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How Amylase is Affected by
Temperature
Jon Swan
Thursday, 3:30 Lab
All cells are made up of enzymes that allow them to carry out their specific functions. An
enzyme’s main purpose is to act as a catalyst for biochemical reactions in living organisms,
helping the cell to speed up chemical reactions rapidly. This allows the cell to produce or break
things down as it needs making it able to grow and reproduce as necessary. Amino acids make
up enzymes; specifically, strings of amino acids held together in a unique order. The chain is
folded into a unique shape, and depending on the shape is able to contribute to carrying out
specific chemical reactions within the cell. Enzymes are able to increase a reaction speed by
lowering the reaction’s activation energy meaning it decreases the amount of energy required for
the reaction to begin. In order to catabolize a reaction, an enzyme will bind to one or multiple
reactant molecules, which are called substrates. The site of the substrate or substrates binding to
the enzyme is called the active site. Once they bind, the enzyme changes shape slightly making
an enzyme-substrate complex, creating products, and the products then leave the active site of
the enzyme. An enzyme’s active site as well as its function can be sensitive to changes in the
environment. Factors that may cause affects can include temperature as well as pH. Increased
temperatures usually cause higher rates of reaction, but to extreme extent can cause an enzyme to
lose its shape and activity. pH can also affect enzyme function if not within a certain range. If not
denatured through environmental factors, an enzyme will release the product or products once
done catalyzing a reaction and is ready for the next cycle. Overall, enzymes play a huge role in
the human body by binding to and altering substrates to create products needed for the digestive
and nervous systems. One enzyme specific to the digestive system is amylase.
Amylase, our bodies’ natural starch enzyme, takes the starch we consume and converts it
into glucose which is then used for energy. Amylase can be found in the pancreas as well as
salivary glands in the mouth. Food begins to be broken down into smaller molecules in the
mouth by enzymes of amylase. It then travels to the stomach where it is broken even further.
Partially broken down starch then goes into the small intestine where amylase enzymes released
from the pancreas break down the starch into final glucose. The glucose moves into our
bloodstream where it is used for energy.
Understanding that amylase is an enzyme, we know that environmental factors can have
an effect on it like any other enzyme. For the experiment performed we developed the question,
what affect does temperature have on amylase? Our hypothesis for this experiment was that an
increase in temperature will increase the speed of amylase breaking down starch, but at extreme
temperatures amylase could be unable to function. Our predictions were that an increase in
temperature would cause a change in the color of the amylase
Colorimetric starch assay
Rank by color
Solution
1
G
2
B
3
F
4
D
5
?
6
C
7
A
8
E
Colorimetric assay
We labeled eight test tubes from ‘1-8’ and placed them into their designated position.
Following this, we added one drop of IKI into each one of our test tubes. Next we added exactly
2.5 ml of each test solution to our test tubes. Finally, we ranked each tested tube from lowest
starch concertation to highest starch concentration.
Quantitative Assay
Your Absorption Reading
(Optical Density at 580nm)
Known Concentration
(ug/ml)
Solution A
.11
10
Solution B
.64
60
Solution C
.23
20
