Rennin. I am going to investigate the changes that will happen if a different amount of rennin is used each time. I predict that if more rennin is used the milk will clot faster.

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Rennin

Introduction

        To alter the speed at which rennin will clot milk the following variables could be changed:

        the temperature,

        amount of rennin,

        the pH,

        the amount of milk,

        the type of milk.

I am going to investigate the changes that will happen if a different amount of rennin is used each time.  I predict that if more rennin is used the milk will clot faster.                          Enzymes are large proteins that speed up chemical reactions.  They act as catalysts to regulate the speed of chemical reactions in living organisms. A small number of amino acids are brought together to form the active site, or the location on the enzyme where the substrate binds and the reaction takes place. The enzyme and the substrate will not bind if their shapes do not match exactly. This ensures that the enzyme does not participate in the wrong reaction. The enzyme itself is unaffected by the reaction. When the products have been released, the enzyme is ready to bind with a new substrate. 

Some enzymes, such as pepsin and trypsin, which help to digest meat, control many different reactions, whereas others, such as urease, are extremely specific and may accelerate only one reaction. Although an increase in temperature may accelerate a reaction, enzymes are unstable when heated.  The optimum temperature for enzymes to work at their best is at 37º Celsius, which is body temperature.  After this temperature, as the temperature gets higher the enzyme begins to denature and the substrate does not fit exactly into the enzyme, therefore the reaction does not work.  

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Method

        The apparatus needed was rennin, milk, two syringes, a water bath, test tubes and a stop clock.

First the water bath was set at 37° Celsius because this is body temperature and rennin works best at this temperature.  2cm³ of milk was put into a test tube and 0.1 millilitres of rennin was put into another test tube.  The two test tubes were put in to the water bath and left to acclimatize for two minutes and this was timed by a stop clock.  After the two minutes the stop clock was reset and the milk ...

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