Introduction
Enzymes are usually proteins that act as a biological catalyst in order to speed up the rate of a chemical reaction in an organism. This is done when a substrate binds to the active site of an enzyme, the active site must be the specific shape of the substrate or the enzyme cannot do its role. The substrate is then changed to form products; this step is known as catalysis, lastly the new products are released, and the enzyme is now ready to perform the same steps with another molecule of substrate (Biology Department, 2014). Enzymes are capable of speeding up the rate of a chemical reaction by lowering the activation energy barrier, without enzymes the biological reaction would be to slow and would not be able to keep humans alive. Therefore, enzymes are essential for the human life. To overcome the energy barrier, energy must be absorbed to weaken the bonds in the reactant so that they can break and new bonds can be formed (Reece et al., 2014). There are two factors in that can affect the role of enzymes one is temperature, and the other is the pH level. In order for an enzyme to work properly as a catalyst in a reaction in the human body, the temperature has to be at around 34-35°C (Reece et al.,2014), just like most chemical reactions the more heat you add to it the faster it reacts due to the increase rate of the collision of the molecules within. Enzymes work the same way, to a certain extent, the higher the temperature the higher the reaction rate but if the temperature is too high, the enzyme becomes denatured and thus cannot proceed in the reaction. pH levels have a similar effect on enzymes in order for they to work, the pH level has to be neutral (6-8), or it will affect their structure and not let the substrate bind at the activation site causing an absence of new product.
Alpha amylase is an enzyme that is found in the saliva and pancreas of animals. α-amylase was the enzyme used during the experiment to test enzyme activity in the...