Affects of Temperature On the Digestion of Starch.

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AFFECTS OF TEMPERATURE ON THE DIGESTION OF STARCH

PAUL MITCHELL

SCIENCE COURSEWORK

Affects of Temperature On The

Digestion of Starch

* Introduction

For my experiment, I will be looking at enzymes; more specifically, the enzyme amylase. Amylase breaks down starch into glucose. I will be looking at how temperature affects this conversion.

Enzymes exist in all living things. They are composed of polypeptide chains of amino acids and are produced in living cells. Each cell contains several hundred enzymes, which catalyse a vast number of chemical reactions.

Enzymes are known as 'Biological Catalysts' as they dramatically affect the rate at which reactions occur within living organisms, without being 'used up' or effecting the reaction in any other way. Enzyme catalysis saves the need for an increase in temperature in order to speed up reactions within living things. Such an increase in temperature would be lethal to the organism. Enzymes only control the rate of one specific reaction inside the body, as only one specific substrate can fit into its active site; therefore we say the enzyme is specialized.

There are two main types of enzyme:

* Intracellular