The objectives of this research were to investigate conditions for immobilization of L‐amino acid oxidase (LAAO) on a preactivated nylon membrane, and to develop an enzyme sensor which can detect ammonia. LAAO was immobilized onto a preactivated nylon membrane. Optimal immobilization conditions were 0.3% glutaraldehyde, 1 mg bovine serum albumin, and 1.6 units of enzyme with 2 h coupling time. The enzymic membrane and an ammonium selective nonactin membrane were attached to an ammonia electrode to fabricate an L‐amino acid sensor. L‐amino acids were enzymatically degraded by immobilized LAAO, and the ammonia generated was measured by a potentiometric electrode at pH 8.5 and 45C. The sensor showed high relative activities for L‐amino acids, and the responses of the sensor for phenylalanine and isoleucine were linear to 10 mM with a detection limit of 0.05 mM. The L‐amino acid sensor was applied for monitoring increases in amino acids levels, expressed as L‐isoleucine equivalents, during yeast autolysis. Determination of L‐amino acids was complete in 3 min. Moreover, the activity of the enzymic membrane was stable for at least 260 assays, and did not noticeably decline for 2 months.