The Effect of Temperature on Reaction Rates of Amylase and Starch

Overview

Objectives/Goals The objective of this experiment was to gain a greater understanding of how amylase breaks down starch. I wanted to learn how our body uses saliva and pancreatic juice to break down food. I also wanted to see how temperature affects the reaction rates of amylase and starch. Methods/Materials Testubes were filled with starch and amylase. Once the iodine was inserted, I started a timer for one minute. Once at one minute, I put in iodine to stop reaction. Then I diluted with water and placed in Spectrophotometer and took reading. Each trial was brought to its initial temperature before testing of 1,5,22,37,65, and 100 °C. Results The reaction rates of amylase and starch increased as the temperature increased. The absorbance levels of the starch decreased as the temperature increased. However, after the 65-degree trial, the reaction rates started to decrease and the absorbance levels increased. This was due to the amylase denaturing and the fact that the iodine couldn#t bond with the starch at such a high temperature. Conclusions/Discussion My conclusion is that the hotter the temperature of the amylase-starch solution, the faster it breaks down. It is also that at hotter temperatures, the body breaks down starch (food) faster.

Competition history

• CSEF 2007 Biochemistry/ Molecular Biology · Entry J0413

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

Related projects

Closest projects by meaning, across every fair and year in the corpus.

Browse more like this

• All Cellular and Molecular Biology projects
• CSEF Cellular and Molecular Biology projects
• Every CSEF 2007 project