Biology Controlled Ass... Apple Pectinase
Introduction
The aim of this experiment is to see the effect of different Pectinase concentrations have on the production on apple juice. Pectinase is an enzyme, which breaks down pectin, a polysaccharide found in plant cell walls. This enzyme is mainly commercially used to speed up the process of fruit juice production as the cell walls of plants are broken down more quickly. Therefore by changing the Pectinase concentrations, the results may show the effects it may have on how much apple juice will be produced.
Hypothesis
The apple pulp mixed with any of the pectinase concentrations will yield greater volume of apple juice than the one which is not mixed with pectinase. Also as the concentration of the Pectinase increases in concentration, there will be more apple juice produced. However, after a certain Pectinase concentration, the volume of apple juice produced would not be proportional to the increase in enzyme concentration.
This is because there is an excess of active sites in the Pectinase for the pectin in the cell walls of the apple to react with and therefore the apple juice produced will not increase further. The enzymes have specific shapes so that they can catalyse reactions. Every enzyme has an active site, which is the part where it joins to its substrate to catalyse the reaction. If the substrate doesn’t match its active site the reaction wont catalyse. This is called the lock and key mechanism. If, however, there are more active sites than substrate then no matter how high the concentration is it wont affect the production of apple juice. Since I am only varying the concentration of the enzyme (pectinase) I will have to make sure that all other variables are maintained (e.g. Temperature, PH and the amount of apple pulp). This is because enzymes are affected by temperature, pH and concentration.
Equipment | Why I am using this equipment | Apple pulp | I am using apple pulp as an example of a fruit to determine the maximum amount
The aim of this experiment is to see the effect of different Pectinase concentrations have on the production on apple juice. Pectinase is an enzyme, which breaks down pectin, a polysaccharide found in plant cell walls. This enzyme is mainly commercially used to speed up the process of fruit juice production as the cell walls of plants are broken down more quickly. Therefore by changing the Pectinase concentrations, the results may show the effects it may have on how much apple juice will be produced.
Hypothesis
The apple pulp mixed with any of the pectinase concentrations will yield greater volume of apple juice than the one which is not mixed with pectinase. Also as the concentration of the Pectinase increases in concentration, there will be more apple juice produced. However, after a certain Pectinase concentration, the volume of apple juice produced would not be proportional to the increase in enzyme concentration.
This is because there is an excess of active sites in the Pectinase for the pectin in the cell walls of the apple to react with and therefore the apple juice produced will not increase further. The enzymes have specific shapes so that they can catalyse reactions. Every enzyme has an active site, which is the part where it joins to its substrate to catalyse the reaction. If the substrate doesn’t match its active site the reaction wont catalyse. This is called the lock and key mechanism. If, however, there are more active sites than substrate then no matter how high the concentration is it wont affect the production of apple juice. Since I am only varying the concentration of the enzyme (pectinase) I will have to make sure that all other variables are maintained (e.g. Temperature, PH and the amount of apple pulp). This is because enzymes are affected by temperature, pH and concentration.
Equipment | Why I am using this equipment | Apple pulp | I am using apple pulp as an example of a fruit to determine the maximum amount