Specifity of Lactase and Its Effect on the Environment

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Recommended: General role of enzymes

An enzyme is a protein that is produced by a living organism that acts as a catalyst is a substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without itself undergoing any permanent chemical change. Enzymes have an area with a specific shape, called the active site of the enzyme. The molecule on which the enzyme acts is called a substrate. After the reaction has taken place and the products of the reaction leave the active site, leaving the enzyme ready for another reaction . The active site of an enzyme has such a particular shape that only one kind of molecule will fit it. This is why enzymes are specific to their substrate. The digestive enzymes break down food into small particles that get absorbed by the digestive system. These are the compounds that are used for fuel, repair and growth. Lactase is an enzyme that breaks down lactose, which is a sugar in milk, a disaccharide made of glucose and galactose . Lactase is present in the mucus lining of the small intestine.Lactose intolerance develops when the small intestine does not make enough of an enzyme called lactase.The body needs this enzyme to digest lactose. The lactase would help prevent gas, cramps and diarrhea for those that are lactose intolerant. The consumption of lactase is very beneficial to those that are lactose intolerant, they can take it as a supplement and it would then allow them to break down lactose and be able to consume Milk and its products without side effects.In the experiments Sucrose was used to the reason for this, is that it is similar to glucose, it is a disaccharide formed from glucose and fructose. The purpose of the following experiments is to study if the specificity of the enzyme and the effect of environment on the lactase functio... ... middle of paper ... ...the lactase concerning the pH level. We hypothesized that enzyme functions are under the influence of environmental factors, in this particular experiment it is pH. In the results, the test tubes with the pH of 4 and 7, yielded color changes with the pH of 7 having the most mg/dL. The results proved our hypothesis, we were right to conclude that because the pH was in between the pH in which the lactase is found, that it would have yielded a reaction. The reason why the pH of 7 yielded the most is because that is the the closets to the pH of the small intestine where the enzyme lactase is found. The significance of the results is that the optimal pH for the biochemical reaction to occur is at the pH of 7 and it would yield the best breakdown of lactose. This fits the bigger picture because it shows that everything must be in balance in order for a successful reaction.

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