How temperature affects the enzyme Pectinase

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How temperature affects the enzyme Pectinase

An enzyme is a protein that speeds up chemical reactions in the body, e.g., an enzyme in the saliva of the mouth helps to break down the food.

Enzymes are biological catalysts, they make chemical reactions happen faster and they can break molecules down and build molecules up.

Change in temperature and P.H can affect enzymes; if you heat up an enzyme they work faster but if you heat them up past their optimum temperature, where they work best, then they stop working.

If you change the P.H then the shape of the active site will change; every enzyme has an optimum P.H at which they work best.

Pectinase is an enzyme that is capable of breaking down Pectin. Many microorganisms, via evolutionary adoptions, use Pectinases to attack plants by breaking down one of their first lines of defence – the cell wall, which contains pectin to assist in the walls’ structural integrity.

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The aim of this experiment is to look at the effect of temperature on the enzyme Pectinase.

Apparatus

Thermometer                        Water bath x2 (40 c/60 c)

Goggles                                Fridge

100ml beaker x5                        Ice

400ml beaker

Method

        Chop apple into small pieces.

        20g of apple in all 5 of the 100ml beakers and 2cm  of Pectinase enzyme.

        Stir and incubate (at set temperature) for 10 minutes.

        Filter juice from apple pieces, using filter paper and funnel.

        Record the volume of juice obtained.

We are going to be wearing goggles to protect our eyes and be extra careful when handling Pectinase.

To make it a ...

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