Introduction: Protein digestion begins in the mouth and is completed once the food reaches the small intestine. When the proteins are broken down into their amino acid components and absorbed the human body is provided with the building blocks to construct the necessary proteins needed at any point in time by rearranging those components.(2) Mechanical digestion is the only type that begins in the mouth because salivary amylase is not strong enough to break the bonds between the amino acids. Once the food reaches the stomach, the strongly acidic environment chemically dismantles the food into its components. Enzymes excreted by the pancreas and small intestine then break the proteins down even further and the necessary components are absorbed …show more content…
In one test tube pancreatic extract containing trypsin and stock protein were added, heated and then cooled in an ice bath to visualize the results of a digestive enzyme on protein. Water and stock protein were placed in a control test tube, then heated and cooled as a way of confirming that any positive confirmation test results are due to a reaction that would not occur without the two organic compounds. Ninhydrin was then used as the confirmation reagent to obtain quantitative results regarding the simulated digestion of the proteins into amino acids. A sample from each test tube was placed on filter paper and a drop of ninhydrin was added to each spot and allowed to …show more content…
When the ninhydrin was added to detect the presence of amino acids or free amino groups there was no color change and therefore a negative test result. In comparison, when the digestive enzyme trypsin was present with the protein there was a notable liquid that was produced in place of the solid. This would allow for the assumption that the trypsin was able to break down the protein, which was then confirmed by the color change of the ninhydrin indicator from clear to purple. The color change indicated that the ninhydrin detected individual amino acid components instead of just a protein molecule within the