Litmus Milk Experiment Essay

870 Words2 Pages

In order to learn even more about my specimen’s metabolic functions, I ran an experiment using a type of differential medium called litmus milk. This differential medium or any other type allows me to actually see certain changes that occur in the tubes after a certain metabolic reaction has taken place (Black, 2015). For this experiment two tubes that contain skin milk and the pH indicator, litmus were inoculated with specimens Ca and Cb. My first litmus milk tube was inoculated with a strain of specimen Ca that was taken from my specimen Ca glucose tube. While my second litmus milk tube contained a strain of specimen Cb that was taken from my specimen Cb lactose tube. After inoculation, both litmus milk tubes were put in an incubator at 37°C …show more content…

While the tube for specimen Cb turned a tannish white in the lower half of the tube while the top stayed the lavender inoculated tube color. Do to this evidence I determined that both specimens Ca and Cb cannot use the process Casein hydrolysis or Casein coagulation due to lack of soft or firm curds in both tubes. Since there was no casein curds formed, I concluded that specimens Ca and Cb also cannot perform the process of proteolysis. My conclusion is supported by the fact that there was no clearing of the medium. I have also determine that neither of my organisms can make the enzymes rennin, proteolytic or even proteases. I know my specimens cannot produce proteases due to the fact that there was no blue coloring in the tubes which means that the byproduct Ammonia was not produced to increase the pH. Since neither of my specimens can make these enzymes, I concluded that my specimens cannot break down lactose or casein. Although I did learn that specimen Cb can reduce litmus due to the evidence that the lower part of the tube turned a tannish white color with a purple ring at the top. This color change from a purple to a white means that the litmus was reduced turning it clear and leaving the white of the milk to show. Finally I know that specimen Ca cannot reduce litmus due to the fact that the tube had no change in

Open Document