Timothy Pratt
Wednesday, 12:20
PBIO 1210L
Scientific Paper:
Effect of Water Temperature on Amylase Using Colorimetric Starch Assay

Introduction

For plants to function properly, chemical reactions must take place within the cells of each individual plant. Energy is necessary for each reaction to occur. The amount of energy that is necessary for a reaction is called the activation energy. Enzymes are used to reach the correct activation energy in plants. They lower the activation energy to the correct amount for the reaction to take place. Certain enzymes catalyze certain reactions, which means that many enzymes to operate the cell. On each cell, there is a spot where the substrate will attach to the enzyme (active site). When the substrate and the enzyme come in contact with each other, it creates an enzyme-substrate complex. The enzyme and substrate then connect. This connection causes the pace of the reaction to speed up, causing a chemical reaction. Once the reaction has taken place, the enzyme is released out so it can perform more reactions with more substrates.
Without enzymes, a cells metabolism would not be fast enough for the organism to function in the correct manner. This is evident when pertaining to the enzyme, amylase, which is found in corn. Amylase is in a group of enzymes that catalyze the hydrolysis of starch into smaller carbohydrate molecules, such as maltose. It is the also the digestive enzyme needed to digest carbohydrates. Corn is an important crop farmed in the US. Amylase is used in germinating seeds by helping the seed grow. It gives farmers a chance to create the biggest production of corn with the smallest amount of input.
Can we prove that temperature affect enzyme activity? In this lab, we tested to see if the rate of enzyme activity was affected by an increase in temperature. Our hypothesis was that an increase in