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The rate of efficiently of the enzyme activity relies on these conditions. They will function poorly if the right condition is not available. Exercise A tested how changes in pH affects the enzyme activity. Catecholamine was most productive at a pH of 6. If the pH was different, the results were less efficient. A pH of 4 was the least efficient PH. Exercise B displays how enzyme performance is related to the concentration of the enzyme. More potato juice resulted in a better reaction rate. Again, these experiments portray just how important the conditions are for a certain enzyme to function efficiently.
Introduction Enzymes are typically proteins that are necessary for many chemical reactions to take place. These chemical reactions take place in organisms and almost all crucial reactions in a biological cells need these enzymes. Enzymes act as biological catalysts. Their power as catalysts enables biological reactions to occur usually in milliseconds (Wolfed,2008). Conversion is the key to enzyme function. Substrates are defined as the starting molecules whereas products are the ending molecules. Enzymes convert these substrates into different products.
However, enzymes are selective when it comes to choosing substrate. The substrates bind to the enzyme’s active site. Enzymes have complex, tertiary structures. Enzymes are vital in speeding up a reaction. They achieve this by lowering the activation energy of a reaction (Suckles). Activation energy is the absolute minimum energy that must be inserted into a chemical system to achieve a chemical reaction. Enzyme activity can be manipulated by many factors such as enzyme concentration as well as the pH of their environment.
The objective of this exercise is to learn the relationship of enzyme activity and the enzymes environmental conditions The hypothesis Estes in exercise A was that the enzymes function will be affected if the pH of its environment is altered. The null hypothesis was that the enzyme’s function will not be affected if the pH changes. Following exercise A, exercise Bi’s hypothesis was that the enzymes activity will be affected if the concentration is affected. The null hypothesis was that the enzyme function will not change if the concentration changes .
In many fruits and vegetables one would find the enzyme catecholamine. This particular enzyme is the enzyme used in the two studies. Cathode is this enzymes substrate which will separate from the catecholamine in intact cells Walker, 1995). However, damaged cells form an additional substance. This substance is formed when the two come into contact and catalysts is the substance defined as Benzedrine. This dark colored substance forms long chains that are the backbone for melanin. Melanin has a dark tincture and generates the coloration of bruised vegetables and fruits dark as well.
Methods and Materials In order to conduct the pH experiment five tubes were prepared, each of them held ml of a particular pH buffer, 1 ml of potato juice and 1 ml of water (Table 1). These blanks were labeled and used in accordance with the Thermo Scientific Genesis 20 spectrophotometer. Labeling was identified by the number of the buffer as well as the letter “B”. A spectrophotometer measures properties of light over the electromagnetic spectrum. The actual experimental tubes were prepared with the same elements, however one ml of the substrate cathode was added (Table 2).
These tubes were labeled the same but instead of the letter “B”, a letter a ” was marked. The difference in total volume between sets of tubes was one ml. The experimental tubes were covered with Paraffin and inverted several times. After 5 minutes, a cavetti was filled with the test tube H B solution to blank the spectrophotometer. Then, a cavetti filled with the pH 4 test tube solution was inserted into the spectrophotometer and measured with the 420 NM wavelength. This procedure was repeated for the remaining test tubes.
Exercise B required 4 test tubes labeled with “A,B,C, or D” and they held the solution of different pH buffer and potato juice volumes, and 1 ml of water (Table 4). These tubes were the blanks for the spectrophotometer for recalibrating it. The additional 4 experimental test tubes were composed of the same contents but 1 ml of the substrate cathode was added instead of the 1 ml f water (Table 2). These test tubes were labeled the same as the previous blanks. The spectrophotometer wavelength was set to 420 NM just like exercise A. After the spectrophotometer was adjusted using the blank A, the cathode was added to tube A.