Temperature’s effect on pepsin and egg white suspension Introduction This experiment is aimed to see the effect different temperatures would have on the activity on the enzyme Pepsin. Enzymes are globular proteins, responsible for most of the chemical activities of living organisms. Acting as catalysts, substances that help increase the rate of chemical reaction without itself undergoing any permanent chemical change. Pepsin is a biological enzyme which breaks down proteins that are smaller peptides. It is produced within the stomach and is a main digestive enzyme in the digestive systems of humans and other animals. It is used to help digest the proteins within food which your body is unable to process individually. Pepsin is a three-dimensional structure, consisting of one or more polypeptide chains which has been twisted and folded, composed of a small number of amino acids to form the active site. During the process of breaking down protein the enzyme is specialized to serving links between particular types of amino acids, which collaborate to break down dietary proteins into their components. Hypothesis It was hypothesised that as the temperature increases to the optimum temperature the effect of the hydrochloric acid & pepsin will increase to an optimum then decrease. Variables …show more content…
This will be varied by 5* from each test tube to determine at what heat does pepsin accelerate its ability to break down proteins and reach its optimum capacity. The dependent variable will be the effect at which the pepsin reacts to the heat and breaks down the protein barrier of the egg white suspension. This will be measured by the time taken for the mixture to change clear. This will be timed separately to improve the validity of the research and ensure that there are no unfair factors within the