Amylase activity in different temperatures

... Aim To investigate the activity of the enzyme amylase at different temperatures. Introduction Amylase is a digestive enzyme found in the salivary glands and the pancreas. Enzymes speed up biochemical reactions by lowering the activation energy required to break bonds, they are known as 'biological catalysts'. Enzymes are globular proteins and have tertiary or quaternary structure. Enzymes are 'specific proteins' due to the shape of the active site (the site where the substrate attaches), meaning they will only break down specific substrates (in this case starch). Amylase breaks down the insoluble polysaccharide (starch) into a disaccharide (maltose) by hydrolysis. Enzymes work more efficiently at different pH and temperatures. This investigation will provide results to show the optimum temperature for the activity of amylase. Apparatus - 0.5% starch buffered to pH 6.7 - 1% NaCl solution - 5% Fearon's reagent (methylamine hydrochloride) - 20% NaOH - pH 6.7 buffer - drinking/distilled water - boiling tubes -

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