Determine the optimum temperature at which the enzyme amylase digests starch into glucose residues through making predictions and doing practical experiments.

Mohammad Ismail Ayub

Biology Experiment-Investigation into Enzyme Amylase

Aim

The aim of my experiment is to determine the optimum temperature at which the enzyme amylase digests starch into glucose residues through making predictions and doing practical experiments.

Introduction

After great study into catalysts, I found that enzymes are nothing more than protein molecules that reduce activation energy and form products extremely quickly without having their own molecular structure transformed or broken down. I have also found that enzymes are extremely sensitive in the sense that they have a particular shape in which a substrate fits in to, like a key that fits into a lock. This brings reason into why Amylase is only an enzyme that breaks starch into glucose residues and no other substance.

Scientific theories are known that the most common enzymes works best at around 40.c. This is there optimum temperature they react. If this temperature begins to rise, the reactions slow down; this will continue to happen until the enzyme is denatured. It becomes denatured at normally 50.c, this happens because the enzyme becomes misshapen. This means that the enzyme will no longer work because it will no longer fit, the active site will be ruined. The enzymes react like a lock and key, only one lock fits the key. When the two join then you get the chemical reaction. When too much heat gets applied then the lock gets changed and so the key doesn’t fit the lock so there is no reaction.

I have also found that enzymes are extremely sensitive to the surrounding in which they are in. A slight adjustment into the temperature or Ph can seriously reduce the amount of enzyme-substrate complex being formed and therefore less products being formed. It is therefore acceptable to believe that enzymes all follow these rules:

Enzymes have a specific shape only allowing the substrates they are designed to digest, to fit in. (Excluding discussion into competitive inhibitors…etc)
Enzymes have a certain temperature in which they are able to work to the maximum. This temperature in known as the optimum temperature. If the temperature is increased above this optimum temperature, then it is possible that the enzyme has become denatured and reducing the temperature there after can never bring the enzymes to work at the optimum again. In fact the enzymes will not work at all.
Enzymes are Ph sensitive. Increasing or decreasing the Ph can easily cause denaturing to occur.

Prediction

I predict that by adjusting the temperature lower then that of the optimum will slow down the formation of enzyme-substrate complex because of very little collisions occurring between the enzyme and substrate. Every time a substrate hits an enzyme there is a high chance of an enzyme-substrate being formed and therefore a product will be made. If the collisions are reduced by lowering the temperature then very little products are going to be made.

This brings us to the next question of where the optimum temperature can be found. There is no doubt that the human body also consumes starch and needs to digest these large molecules in to smaller residues before absorption into the blood system. The enzyme amylase is therefore also found in the human body in the regions of the mouth and after food leaves the stomach. The human body is at a constant temperature of 37 degrees and this leads me to believe that the optimum temperature could be at 37 degrees.

I also think that the ...