The Breakdown of Starch by Amylase.

Sam Stiff

The Breakdown of Starch by Amylase

Plan:

In this experiment I will be testing the amount of time it takes for the enzyme Amylase to break down Starch into Glucose at different temperatures.

I will do this by heating the Starch and amylase solution, starting at 5°C and increasing it an extra 5°C up to 60°C after each test, taking a sample of it every minute, then adding it into a tray of iodine samples. To tell whether the Amylase has broken down the Starch into Glucose the colour of the solution will change when added to the Iodine.

If the Starch is still present the solution will turn a black/dark blue colour. If the Starch has been broken down the solution will turn orange.

The apparatus I will use to conduct my experiment will be as followed:

Waterbath – I will use this to heat the Starch and Amylase solution.
Test Tube – To hold the solution.
Tray – To hold Iodine samples.
Pipette – To take samples.
Measuring Cylinder – To measure volumes of liquids.
Stopwatch – To measure the time taken till breakdown.

Substances I will use are as followed:

Starch – Principle reserve food material, a carbohydrate.
Amylase – An enzyme that play a part in the Hydrolysis of Starch and similar substances.
Iodine – A halogen element, in this case used for determining the presence of Starch.

Method:

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Waterbath – I will use this to heat the Starch and Amylase solution.
Test Tube – To hold the solution.
Tray – To hold Iodine samples.
Pipette – To take samples.
Measuring Cylinder – To measure volumes of liquids.
Stopwatch – To measure the time taken till breakdown.

Substances I will use are as followed:

Starch – Principle reserve food material, a carbohydrate.
Amylase – An enzyme that play a part in the Hydrolysis of Starch and similar substances.
Iodine – A halogen element, in this case used for determining the presence of Starch.

Method:

In a test tube I will put a solution of Starch and the enzyme Amylase. I will place the test tube in a waterbath. I will start the temperature at 5°C and increase it a further 5°C after each sample taken. I do this to examine the affects of heating the solution.

The chemical reaction will take less time as you heat the solution, as the particles vibrate more, increasing the amount of collisions thus resulting in a quicker reaction. This theory is called the Particle Theory.

Every minute of warming the solution, I will take a sample and use a pipette to add a sample to a tray of Iodine. If starch is present the colour of the samples will change to orange, if not the solutions will turn black/dark blue.

To make this a fair test I will keep the amount of amylase and starch the same because if the amount of either substance was different the results would be inconclusive.

I could vary the test conditions in many different ways:

Change the temperature – as due to the Particle Theory, the chemical reaction will increase in speed if heated.
Change the amount of Enzymes in the solution – If there is more Amylase (more amylase particles) in the solution the reaction would increase in speed as there are more Enzymes working on the breakdown.
Change the concentration of Starch – If the concentration of Starch is increased the Enzyme take a longer amount of time to break down the Starch. It could on the other hand be heated to increase reaction time.
Change the concentration of Amylase – If the strength of the Amylase were to be increased the Starch would be broken down far more quickly as the Amylase is of a stronger amount.
Change the volume of Starch – If there is an increased amount of Starch and a smaller amount of Amylase the reaction of the Enzyme would take longer as there is a larger surface area for the Enzyme to cover.

If the volume of Amylase was increased the reaction would on the other hand take less time to react as if there were more Starch, as the Enzymes would control more surface area.

I would have to decide on suitable ranges of all the substances, temperatures and the time gap before each sample taken.

I believe these to be suitable ranges:

Temperature of waterbath: 5°C and increase an extra 5°C up to 60°C.
I will use the same amount of Starch and Amylase in the solution, as if there were more of either substance the reaction times would increase.
I will take a sample of the heated substance every minute. So leaving time for reaction.

I believe these would be suitable test condition because they are fair up to a point and would achieve the best results.

Prediction: I think that as the temperature is increased the amount of time taken till breakdown will decrease, because of the effects of the particle theory.