The Factors that Affect the Rate of Breakdown of the Protein Gelatine by Trypsin

The Factors that Affect the Rate of Breakdown of the Protein Gelatine by Trypsin

Aim

To investigate factors that affects the rate of breakdown of the

protein gelatine by trypsin.

Key Factors:

Possible factors that I could change-

pH- Different types of enzyme work best at different pH level. The

best pH level for an enzyme to be effective depends on its site of

action. An example of this is; enzymes in the stomach have an optimum

pH value of about 2. This is because the stomach is acidic, where as

enzymes in intestines, have an optimum pH of about 7.5.

Temperature- as the temperature increases, so does the reaction rate.

This is due to heat energy that causes the enzyme and the substrate to

collide. But however, very high temperatures damage enzymes by

denaturing them.

The amount and concentration of trypsin- The more trypsin there is

would increase the rate of digestion, as the gelatine will be broken

down quicker.

The size of the gelatine strips-More gelatine would take longer to

digest, as there is a greater ratio of gelatine to trypsin.

Type of factor

Quantity

Unit

Method of Measurement

Independent.

Temperature.

°C.

Thermometer

Dependent.

Time.

mins /secs.

Stop watch

Controlled.

Amount of Trypsin.

ml.

Measuring Cylinder

Controlled.

Amount of Gelatine.

cm.

Ruler

Prediction:

I am going to change the temperature that the trypsin works at. The

time taken for the trypsin to digest the gelatine will change because

of this.

I predict that the temperature that the trypsin works at best (and so

the time that the gelatine is digested quicker at) will be about 37°C,

because this is body temperature.

Hypothesis:

Trypsin is one of the three principle digestive enzymes which are

called Proteases. the other two are Pepsin and Peptidases. During the

digestion process, Trypsin acts with the other Protease enzymes to