Enzyme Peroxidase Lab Report

Introduction In mostly all living things, many biological processes are too inefficient to occur on their own. With the help of enzymes, or protein catalysts, the efficiency of these chemical reactions becomes much greater having less of an effect on the cells they occur in. Enzymes help to increase the overall rate of these reactions by lowering the energy needed to activate this process during the transitional phase. They can do this without being consumed or permanently altered by the reaction, as well as not disrupting the equilibrium between the reaction’s reactants and products. These internal catalysts create a controlled, reactive environment which is ultimately overlooked by each cell when determining which enzyme should be made or not. Cells have their own capability of being able to regulate, causing different types of cells to have varying …show more content…
The enzyme peroxidase was studied from a collecting of beet extracts. The first experiment performed looked at how different enzyme concentrations effect the rate at which a reaction will occur. It was hypothesized that as the amount of beet extract in each sample decreased, the initial velocity would decrease. The purpose behind the second experiment was to see how varying pH levels effect the activity of enzymes, which in this case was peroxidase. We hypothesized that there would be an optimal pH seen at about a pH of 7. The third experiment studied the kinetics of the enzyme, specifically using Km and Vmax, to determine how efficiently peroxidase was working. A Lineweaver-Burk Plot was also used in conjunction with this experiment. It was hypothesized that with an increase in the amount of substrate, or guaiacol, added to the sample the initial velocity would increase. According to the results found for each test, the null-hypothesis of each experiment was rejected, supporting the original, predicted claims