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Enzyme

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Introduction
Enzymes are protein molecules that catalyze chemical reactions in all living organisms. Enzymes allow living organisms to carry out complex chemical activities at low temperatures, but can’t cause a reaction that hasn’t occurred in their absence. Also, enzymes are thought to speed up reactions by bringing reacting molecules together to increase the chances that a reaction will occur (Worthington Biomedical Corporation, 2015). Each enzyme has a specific active site where the substrates attach. Many factors can affect enzyme activity such as temperature, pH, and the presence of inhibitors (John W. Kimball, 2014).
The purpose of this lab was to examine factors affecting the enzyme function of peroxidase. In the 19th century French chemist Louis Jacques discovered catalysts. Catalysts are substances that enable a chemical reaction without participating in it, which led to specifically peroxidases. The structure of peroxidase is a very large enzymatic protein, and has complex molecules with complicated shapes involving multiple folding’s. The activity of peroxidase is dependent on pH. It exhibits maximum activity at a pH between 6.5 and 7.0. The activity of the enzyme is reduced when pH levels are increased. Peroxidase promotes the oxidation of various compounds naturally of peroxides, where hydrogen peroxide is reduced to form water (Wikimedia Foundation, 2015). Also peroxidases break compounds down into harmless substances by adding donor molecules. During this lab, the donor molecule used was guaiacol. Guaiacol was used because it changes color after hydrogens are lost. Peroxidase can use a wide variety of donor molecules, and reduce a wide range of peroxides. Peroxidase is found in plants to help minimize damage caused by stress factors. In the lab four stress factors are used, temperature, pH, boiling, and the inhibitor hydroxylamine. Stress factors

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