Two separate variables were hypothesized and tested within the confines of the experiment on their effects on the productivity of lactate enzyme. The measurement of light absorbency levels of different solutions based on both the concentration of o- nitrogen (NP) as well as the pH of the solution tested. To begin with, differing concentrations of NP were tested to find the absorbency levels of NP.
Three different pH values, 5, 6, and 7, in solution, were tested over a period of 8 minutes and their absorbency’s recorded. Both plots of data were then used to find at which incinerations of NP absorption levels, and thus enzyme activity rates, were at their highest across each of the three pH solutions. Based on the results of both experiments, it was found that a pH of 5 is the optimal pH for the productivity of lactate enzyme. Lactate enzyme is used throughout the food industry to break lactose, found in milk, down into the sugars glucose and calaboose.
A deficiency in lactate prevents the breakdown of lactose and results in what is called lactose intolerance, which can lead to digestion problems, cramps, and possibly diarrhea upon ingestion of dairy rodents (Phillips). Through the use of lactate outside of the body, milk is separated into its more viscous and creamy form for the production of dessert products such as ice cream. Many enzymes are proteins that lower the activation energy needed to start chemical reactions that are crucial to the survival of life.
Alike to other proteins enzymes undergo changes in shape based on the surrounding environment, and thus their productivity changes as well. Many factors affect the productivity of enzyme including temperature, concentration of enzyme in a reaction, and pH (Gangland 441). In this experiment the factors of concentration and pH were tested. The tests performed were done so in order to investigate the effects of pH and concentration difference on the overall productivity of lactate enzyme by measuring light absorbency levels of enzyme while changing each of the two variables over time.
The first hypothesis stated that as the concentration increased so would the absorption level. According to Figure 1 such is the case where as the total concentration of NP increased, the absorption increased steadily in an all but linear fashion. This shows that an increased concentration of enzyme within a reaction, whether lactate or not, could mean increased activity and thus a better catalysis of reactants, such as lactose, into more usable product, such as glucose and calaboose (Phillips).
The second hypothesis stated that the maximum absorption levels from the reaction of GNP to produce NP precipitate would be highest at a pH of 5 and decrease as a solution got farther from that optimal pH value (Bunkhouses). As shown in Figure 2 the tests acted exactly as was originally predicted. Figure 2 mainly shows that lactate enzyme has a very small window of for optimal pH, centering around 5 and decreasing drastically at a pH of 6. This shows that the body’s ability to keep pH values in the digestive tract, as well as other areas, mostly constant, is crucial to the survivability of life.
If pH values are not within the optimum for an enzyme to function, it not only lowers production but also begins to unfold the proteins and thus denatures the enzyme and eventually halts the catalysis of the reaction if the pH is too far to either side of the optimum. This relates back to the rate of enzyme dialysis of lactose in the human digestive tract and how fluctuations in pH can cause issues such as lactose intolerance (Phillips). While the optimum pH range of lactate enzyme is shown to be very small, it is not the case for all enzymes.
Every protein reacts differently when introduced to new surrounding environments. In some cases proteins and thus enzymes can have a large tolerance to changes in pH; such is the case with acid phosphate, an enzyme found throughout the body as well as in blood. Acid phosphate is shown to have an optimum pH ranging anywhere from 4. 9 to 6. 0 (Gangland 444). This reiterates the profound and necessary ability to regulate pH levels throughout the different systems of the body.
While both concentration of NP and the optimum pH ranges are discussed and tested in this lab, one major factor that was not observed in detail was time. The lactate enzyme catcalled the reaction and each experiment was set to run over the course of 8 minutes, one possible change that could be made would be to run the experiment tort a longer period of time to see its effects on the rate of production of NP. In both Figure 2 and 3 the reaction was tested at a final time of 8 minutes, but in each of the sets it was observed that the absorption level as well as the concentration level of NP was still climbing.
