Enzymes Enzymes are complex proteins that carry out essentially every chemical reaction in the human body. Enzymes function as biological catalyst, regulating the rate at which chemical reactions proceed without themselves being altered in the process. In this particular experiment we recognized benzoquinone and examined two numbers of factors to determine their effects on enzyme action. The factors were temperature and specificity (how discriminating the enzyme is in catalyzing different potential substrates). The enzyme that we examined was catechol oxidase also known as tyrosinase. II. RESULTS Table 1 Formation and Detection of Benzoquinone: Record color ------------------------------------------------------------- Time ==== Tube 2A: Potato Extract and Catechol Tube 2B: Potato Extract and Water Tube 2C: Cathecol and Water 0 min. Dark Orange =========== Light Orange ============ Colorless ========= 10 min Reddish Light Orange Colorless Table 2 Color-Intensity scale or Absorbance Intensity/Absorbance Tube Color of Product 0 2c Colorless 2 2b Light orange 5 2a Reddish Table 3 Specificity of Cathecol Oxidase for Different Substrates Time Tube 3a: Catechol Tube 3b: Hydroquinone Tube 3c: dH O 0 min 5 3 2 10 min 5 3 2 Table 4 Effect of Temperature on enzyme Activity ------------------------------------------------- Relative Color Intensit... ... middle of paper ... ...is a really high temperature, the enzyme molecules start to become unstable, causing the enzyme to become denatured. It is clear that as temperature is increased, the rate of reaction is also increased. We could easily observed that when we ended the experiment and analyzed the test tubes. We observed the difference in colors and color intensity. They are recorded in Table 4. IV COMMENTS The purpose of this laboratory was to understand better what an enzyme is and how it operates. We recognized benzoquinone, the substrates for the enzyme catechole oxidase and observed the effect of temperature on the rate of chemical reactions. Seeing how temperature effects the enzyme molecules was the part we enjoyed the most. We could actually see how the enzyme molecule became denatured or that it reacted very slowly.