Catechol Oxidase Enzyme Lab

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Enzymes are proteins that every living cell produces to catalyze a specific chemical reaction. Without enzymes, the same chemical reaction would take much longer to occur, and would not be able to support life as we know. For that reason, a chemical reaction first needs to overcome an activation energy E_a, which is difficult. Therefore, cells produce enzymes that lowers the activation energy E_a Enzymes are shape-specific; they will only bind with specific reactants, also called substrates. Substrates bind at an enzyme’s active site to form a product. Enzymes do not deplete in a substrate-enzyme Most enzymes found in nature optimally catalyze reactions only at a specific environmental condition. If that environment is altered, then substrate-enzyme…show more content…
The following equation represents the substrates-enzyme reaction occurring during this experiment: Catechol and catechol oxidase are found in many plants, such as potatoes. They are present in the cells of potatoes, separated by cell chambers. When the cell chambers are broken, catechol and catechol oxidase are in contact, they form a product called benzoquinone, which is responsible for the browning observed in some fruits. Benzoquinone helps fight the growth of microorganisms that cause…show more content…
Six water baths, with tap water in a 400 mL beaker, were prepared at temperatures zero, room temperature (which was at 25°C), 40, 60, 80, and 100°C. Then, with a China marker, six different test tubes were labeled from numbers one to six, and with the help of a metric ruler, all the six test tubes were measured, and at marked 1 cm and 2 cm from the bottom. Each test tube was filled with potato extract containing catechol oxidase (the enzyme) up to the 1 cm mark. The six test tubes were then placed separately in different water baths (e.g., test tube one in 0°C; two in 25°C; three in 40°C; four in 60°C; five in 80°C; and six in 100°C), so they could reach the temperature of the water bath. After five minutes, they were removed from the water baths, and the substrates catechol was added to the 2 cm mark in each test tube; all were mixed well. As soon as the catechol was added into the six test tubes, with the help of a spectrophotometer, the concentration of benzoquinone was measured for each test tube and recorded onto a data sheet. The spectrophotometer measures the absorbance of a substance by calculating the amount of light that traverses through the solution. From the absorbance given by the spectrophotometer, the concentration was calculated by this equation: 1.0A = 50 μg/ml. After recording the data for time zero minutes, test tubes were placed back

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