The Effect Of Enzymes On The Human Body During Digestion Essay

Enzymes are known as protein catalysts. The name protein catalyst suggests that most enzymes are made of proteins. A catalyst is a substance that speeds up chemical reactions without being consumed in the process. (Giuseppe, M 2002, p.69). After a reaction has been catalyzed, the catalyst can be used again to catalyze the same reaction. Enzymes reduce the activation energy (minimal energy) it takes for a reaction to take place. Enzymes can either catabolize (destroy), or anabolize (build up) a chemical system.

Enzymes are biological catalysts that speed up chemical reactions, without being used up or changed. Catalase is a globular protein molecule that is found in all living cells. A globular protein is a protein with its molecules curled up into a 'ball' shape. All enzymes have an active site. This is where another molecule(s) can bind with the enzyme. This molecule is known as the substrate. When the substrate binds with the enzyme, a product is produced. Enzymes are specific to their substrate, because the shape of their active site will only fit the shape of their substrate. It is said that the substrate is complimentary to their substrate.

Enzymes are biological catalysts, which speed up the rate of reaction without being used up during the reaction, which take place in living organisms. They do this by lowering the activation energy. The activation energy is the energy needed to start the reaction.

This is because each kind of apple has a different concentration of catechol oxidase (Daniela Finkel, 2013). Therefore, each apple has a unique speed at which it will produce benzoquinone, and turn brown.

Enzymes have an active site which has a complimentary base to a specific substrate, when these bind an enzyme-substrate complex is

Enzymes are proteins that act as catalysts during a biochemical process. Catalysts are non-changing enzymes that can increase or decrease activation energy to accelerate or slow down a biochemical reaction without using additional energy.

An Enzyme is a protein that in essence speeds up biological reactions. So that would mean that a Catalase is an enzyme reaction that decomposes hydrogen peroxide to water and oxygen. It is primarily found in the liver and it is important in protecting the cell from damaging oxidative reactions.

Enzymes are a key aspect in our everyday life and are a key to sustaining life. They are biological catalysts that help speed up the rate of reactions. They do this by lowering the activation energy of chemical reactions (Biology Department, 2011).

Enzymes are biological catalyst, meaning that it increases the rate of reaction without contributing to the reaction or being used up. The amount in which the enzyme increases the rate of reaction is known as CATALYTIC ACTIVITY. An example of an enzyme is amylase, which convert starch into maltose (amylase is found in saliva). Furthermore, enzymes have specific jobs in which allow control different chemical reactions, hence why there are thousands of different enzymes in the human body.

There are thousands of chemical reactions that occur in an organism that make life possible. Most of these chemical reactions occur too slowly on their own. Enzymes are protein catalysts that speed up chemical reactions in a cell. Catalysts are not changed by the reactions they control, and are not used up during the reaction. Enzymes therefore, can be used over and over again. Enzymes are large complex proteins made by the cell and allow chemical reactions to take place at the temperature of the cell. These catalysts are needed in only very small amounts because a single enzyme molecule can complete the same reaction thousands of times in one minute.

Enzymes are very efficient catalysts for biochemical reactions. They speed up reactions by providing an alternative reaction pathway of lower activation energy. Like all catalysts, enzymes take part in the reaction - that is how they provide an alternative reaction pathway. But they do not undergo permanent changes and so remain unchanged at the end of the reaction. They can only alter the rate of reaction, not the position of the equilibrium. Enzymes are usually highly selective, catalyzing specific reactions only. This specificity is due to the shapes of the enzyme molecules.

(Raven 53) There are several factors that affect the ability of the enzyme to catalyze a reaction. In this study, the effects of the substrate concentration, pH, and temperature will be examined. To test the effects of these environmental factors on enzymes catalase, a common enzyme found in the majority of all aerobic cells, will be examined. Catalase protects cells from the toxin hydrogen-peroxide, which is a byproduct of cell metabolism by catalyzing the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide into oxygen gas and water. The measure of oxygen gas and water under various conditions is an indicator of the effects environmental factors have on enzyme activity. (German

Introduction: The catalase enzyme is a substance inside all living things that speeds up chemical reactions and activities. Enzymes are proteins that lower the activation energy of chemical reactions and work on substrates, which are the product being changed. Enzymes are very specific and certain enzymes only react with certain substrates, the active site of an enzyme is the part of the enzyme that binds to the substrate. The active site and the substrate must have the same shape in order for this to happen and for the reaction to occur. There are hundreds of different enzymes in our cells and they each participate in different types of reactions.

The enzyme catechol oxidase, extracted from masticated potato (Solanum tuberosum) lowers activation energy, as it is a catalyst. This enzyme can react with catechol to produce benzoquinone and water. Catechol oxidase is tested against a multitude of phosphate buffers, acidic, neutral and basic pH values, and chilled temperatures to hot temperatures. The purposes of these testes were to determine the optimal temperature and pHs at which catechol oxidase performs at. The method to measure results was the usage of a spectrophotometer (Vernier Spectrouis Plus). The spectrophotometer measures the absorbance levels of the pigment excreted when catechol oxidase undergoes a reaction. The high the absorbance, the more products produced and vise versa. The highest absorbance for the catechol oxidase submitted to different temperatures measured an average 0.6018 nm, when at 20 C. The highest absorbance for the catechol oxidase submitted to different pH values measured two averages of 0.658 at pH 6 and 0.6464 at pH 7. The conclusion taken from the available data explains that the optimal pH for catechol oxidase was between pH 6 and 7 and the optimal temperature was at room temperature at 20C.

Within a cell, enzymes are used as a catalyst to increase the rate of chemical reaction. They do not consume themselves, rather they help in increasing the rate of reaction. Within the body, enzymes vary depending on their specific functions. For instance, hydrogen peroxide is a toxic chemical, but it breaks down into harmless oxygen and water. This reaction can be sped up using the enzyme catalyst produced by yeast. Hydrogen peroxide is produced as a byproduct in cellular reaction, because it is poisonous and must be broken down, therefore this reaction is important. The speeding up of the reaction is shown below: