Exercise 8: Chemical and Physical Processes of Digestion: Activity 1: Assessing Starch Digestion by Salivary Amylase Lab

Report
Pre-lab Quiz Results
You scored 100% by answering 6 out of 6 questions correctly.
1. The substrate for amylase is
You correctly answered: e. starch and carbohydrate.
2. Which of the following is true of enzymes?
You correctly answered: c. Their activity can be affected by temperature and pH.
3. The reagent IKI tests for the presence of
You correctly answered: a. starch.
4. Which of the following is not true of controls?
You correctly answered: d. A negative result with a positive control is required to validate the test
5. Which of the following is an end product of starch digestion?
You correctly answered: e. maltose and glucose
6. Hydrolases are enzymes that break down large molecules into smaller subunits through the addition of _____________.
You correctly answered: b. water

04/12/16

page 1

Experiment Results
Predict Question:
Predict Question: What effect do you think boiling and freezing will have on the activity of the amylase enzyme?
Your answer : c. Boiling will decrease amylase activity and freezing will have no effect.
Stop & Think Questions:
Tube 2 appears to have the same amount of starch digested as tube 3 because
You correctly answered: a. freezing had no effect on the enzyme.
Experiment Data:
Tube No.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

Reagent 1
Amylase
Amylase
Amylase
Amylase
Starch
Maltose
Amylase
Amylase

Reagent 2
Starch
Starch
Starch
Water
Water
Water
Starch
Starch

Reagent 3
pH 7.0
pH 7.0
pH 7.0
pH 7.0
pH 7.0
pH 7.0
pH 2.0
pH 9.0

04/12/16

Treatment
Boiled
Frozen
None
None
None
None
None
None

page 2

Time
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
60

Temp.
37
37
37
37
37
37
37
37

IKI
+
+
+
+

Benedict's
++
++
++
+
+

Post-lab Quiz Results

You scored 100% by answering 4 out of 4 questions correctly.
1. Tubes 3, 7, and 8 reveal that
You correctly answered: d. amylase activity was highest at pH 7.
2. This activity includes a number of negative controls. Which tube indicates that the amylase solution was not
contaminated with maltose?
You correctly answered: b. tube 4
3. Which tubes indicate that the deionized water did not contain contaminating starch or maltose?
You correctly answered: c. tubes 4, 5, and 6
4. Explain where and why salivary amylase would be most active.
You correctly answered: d. Salivary amylase would be most active in the mouth because pH 7 is where its peak activity is.

04/12/16

page 3

Review Sheet Results

1. List the substrate and the subunit product of amylase.
Your answer:
The substrate of amylase is animal starch and the product is maltose and glucose.
2. What effect did boiling have on enzyme activity? Why? How well did the results this compare with your prediction?
Your answer:
The boiling denatured the enzyme and inactivated it as predicted. The freezing has no
effect on the enzyme.
3. At what pH was the amylase activity the most active? Describe the significance of this result.
Your answer:
Amylase was most active at pH 7.0. This is significant because this is the same pH as the mouth.
4. Briefly describe the need for controls and give an example used in this activity.
Your answer:
Controls are necessary to validate the results of the experiment. Tube #5 is an example where the enzyme that tests for
contaminating glucose in the starch or the buffer is absent.
5. Describe the significance of using a 37C incubation temperature to test salivary amylase activity.
Your answer:
The 37C incubation is significant because it is the same temperature as body temperature so it should be ideal for the
enzyme.

04/12/16

page 4