Catalyst
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Introduction
Bananas, apples, pears and potatoes all exhibit a browning effect after being cut open. This is due to the enzymes within the food. The enzyme found in potatoes is called catecholase and the substrate is catechol. Catechol is colorless, but when it interacts with the enzyme cateholase the reaction yields benzoquinone which is a reddish-brown color.
A catalyst is something that lowers activation energy for a reaction to occur. A substrate is a specific reactant molecule that binds to a specific part of the protein. The substrate used in this experiment is called catechol. Catechol is found in fungi, insects and plants, such a potatoes(Richter,1934). The rate of enzymes can be affected by many variables such as ion concentration, enzyme and substrate concentration, pH, and temperature. Enzymes will be denatured if temperatures get too high. The same thing will happen to enzymes if the salt levels rise. Regarding enzyme and substrate concentration, there are only so many active sites on enzymes. When all of the active sites have been bonded to, then extra amounts of substrate will have no affect on the reaction. This is called saturation(Wang, 2011).
Introduction
Bananas, apples, pears and potatoes all exhibit a browning effect after being cut open. This is due to the enzymes within the food. The enzyme found in potatoes is called catecholase and the substrate is catechol. Catechol is colorless, but when it interacts with the enzyme cateholase the reaction yields benzoquinone which is a reddish-brown color.
A catalyst is something that lowers activation energy for a reaction to occur. A substrate is a specific reactant molecule that binds to a specific part of the protein. The substrate used in this experiment is called catechol. Catechol is found in fungi, insects and plants, such a potatoes(Richter,1934). The rate of enzymes can be affected by many variables such as ion concentration, enzyme and substrate concentration, pH, and temperature. Enzymes will be denatured if temperatures get too high. The same thing will happen to enzymes if the salt levels rise. Regarding enzyme and substrate concentration, there are only so many active sites on enzymes. When all of the active sites have been bonded to, then extra amounts of substrate will have no affect on the reaction. This is called saturation(Wang, 2011).
Introduction
Bananas, apples, pears and potatoes all exhibit a browning effect after being cut open. This is due to the enzymes within the food. The enzyme found in potatoes is called catecholase and the substrate is catechol. Catechol is colorless, but when it interacts with the enzyme cateholase the reaction yields benzoquinone which is a reddish-brown color.
A catalyst is something that lowers activation energy for a reaction to occur. A substrate is a specific reactant