Enzyme, Sample of Dissertations

5 pages, 2143 words

Pineapple enzymes and jello lab

Biology 11

November 12, 12

Sherry Wang

Mr. Charles

Word count: 2003

Defining the problem and selecting variables

Problem Question:

Which form of pineapple contains enzymes that digests proteins at an optimum speed?

Variables

Independent variable: The type of pineapple used (fresh pineapple, frozen pineapple and canned pineapple)

Dependent variable: The speed of the reaction, this will be measured by the time that it takes for the pineapple to completely break the jello.

Control: A beaker of jello only (without any independent variable (pineapple) added).

Controlled Variables

Controlled variables | Why it must be controlled | How will it be controlled |

1) The temperature of the water used (measured in degrees Celsius) to mix the jello | To ensure that the jello’s qualities remain consistent throughout the experiment. | Mixing all the required amount of jello in one batch, ensuring that the water temperature is consistent. |

2) The brand and quality of the Jello | To ensure that the results are not affected by the difference in the quality of different jellos. | We are only using kraft’s JELL-O (strawberry) powder, which contains: GELATIN, ADIPIC ACID (FOR TARTNESS), DISODIUM PHOSPHATE (CONTROLS ACIDITY), MALTODEXTRIN (FROM CORN), FUMARIC ACID (FOR TARTNESS), ASPARTAME** (SWEETENER), CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, ACESULFAME POTASSIUM (SWEETENER), SALT, RED 40. **PHENYLKETONURICS: CONTAINS PHENYLALANINE. (www.kraftbrands.com) |

8 pages, 3612 words

The Term Paper on Quality Management In Business

Quality has an utmost value and importance for all the businesses- be it a industrial unit or a services concern. The idea of total quality has developed from the methods of quality assurance in the early decades of 20th century. In this report we will find out find out issue of customer satisfaction and the idea of continuous improvement for Walmart. Analysis will also look into some other ...

3) The amount of water added to mix the jello powder | To ensure that the concentration of the jello mixture is consistent. If the concentration is inconsistent, the enzyme-digestion speed would differ. | We are mixing all the jello needed in one batch, so the concentration will remain the same throughout. |

4) The amount of jello powder put in | To ensure that the results are not affected by the difference in the concentration of different jellos. | We are mixing all the jello needed in one batch, so the concentration will remain the same throughout. |

5) The temperature of the room | To ensure that the temperature does not affect the reaction speed of the enzyme, as an overly hot or cold environment will denature the enzyme. | Adjusting the temperature of the room to 21.5 degrees Celsius. The temperature will be consistent throughout the experiment. |

Hypothesis

If the fresher the pineapple it is, then the more enzymes it contains, thereby fresh pineapple will be the fastest at breaking gelatin down with its enzyme.

Background information:

All living cells produce enzymes which catalyze metabolic reactions. An enzyme is an organic catalyst that alters the rate of a specific chemical reaction but which remains unchanged at the conclusion of the reaction. Enzymes are classified according to the substrate on which they function or the reaction they catalyze (www.woodrow.org).

Gelatin is made from a protein called collagen which comes from the joints of animals. Gelatin may be dissolved in hot water. As the dissolved gelatin mixture cools, the collagen forms into a matrix that traps the water; as a result, the mixture turns into the jiggling semi-solid mass that is so recognizable as Jell-O™ (mdk12.org).

On the other hand, Pineapple belongs to a group of plants called Bromeliads. The enzyme found in pineapple juice, bromelain, is able to break down the collagen, thereby breaking the solid jello mixture back into its liquid form. However, not all types of pineapple can be able to break down the collagen. Research shows that the process of canning pineapple denatures the bromelain by heat, rendering it incapable of catalyzing the break down of gelatin, as there are no more active enzymes contained. Also, frozen pineapples have a smaller amount of juice contained (where the enzyme bromelain is found in), so it is also hard to catalyze the break down of gelatin. In other words, I believe that fresh pineapple will have the best effect on breaking down jello, as it contains the most amount of denatured, and concentrated juice.

5 pages, 2208 words

The Term Paper on Why doesn’t jelly set when fresh pineapple is used?

Basic Problem: Jelly is made from protein, gelatin, this is dissolved in hot water and as it cools, it sets. For a childrens party it was decided to make some fruit jellies, these were made by putting sliced pineapple into the jelly before it set, the following observations were made: oThe jelly set normally when tinned pineapple was added. oWhen fresh, unripe pineapple was used the jelly set but ...

Apparatus and materials

Materials:

One pouch (8 grams) of JELL-O (strawberry flavored gelatin dessert)

A fresh and ripe pineapple

A can ( 20 oz.) of Dole brand canned pineapple chunks

A bag of frozen pineapple rings

Four 150ml beakers

Four glass stirring rods

One kitchen knife

One timer

One spoon

One electric scale (0.01 uncertainty)

Method/procedure

1) Peel the fresh pineapple with a kitchen knife, cut the pineapple into triangular cubes (cut all pineapples to approximate the same size in order to minimize the anticipated error).

2) Scoop about 40 grams of pre-made jello into each of the four beakers.

3) Put 15 grams of fresh pineapple into beaker 1, 15 grams of frozen pineapple into beaker 2, 15 grams of canned pineapple into beaker 3, and nothing in beaker 4 (the control).

4) Carefully mix the pineapple with the jello to speed up the reaction time

5) Time the reaction time of each beaker, observe the undergoing reaction in each beaker carefully

The data I collected are the reaction times of different beakers. Since some beakers will not have very significant reactions (as stated in hypothesis), I recorded the state of the state of each beaker of jello at two minutes after the independent variable have been put in, while also noting any specific changes in each beaker. I choose two minutes as my time to record all information, because I believe that two minutes would be enough for any reactions/changes to occur. In order to be more accurate, I also waited and observed for another three minutes, to note if any other reactions occurred five minutes after the independent variables have been put in.

6 pages, 2712 words

The Term Paper on Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fail

(Bristol-Myers Squibb). These eﬀorts have gone under many banners: total quality management, reengineering, rightsizing, restructuring, cultural change, and turnaround. But, in almost every case, the basic goal has been the same: to make fundamental changes in how business is conducted in order to help cope with a new, more challenging market environment. A few of these corporate change eﬀorts ...

Safety

* Be careful when using the kitchen knife to cut the fresh pineapple

* Wear safety goggles during all times

The following diagram demonstrates how I have set up this experiment:

Recording raw data

Data table

* The mass of each beaker used is about 103 ±0.01 grams

The mass of each beaker with jello added cannot be completely the same, as the time was restrictive, and we weren’t able to scrutinize every difference in the weight. However, we tried our best to make sure that the jello inside each beaker weighed for approximately 40 grams.

Quantitative data

Qualitative data

Beaker 1: Soon after putting the fresh pineapple in, we realize that a reaction was occurring. The jello was slowly turning liquid, while some bubbles were forming. After two minutes, only a small bit of solid jello remained in the middle of the beaker. After five minutes, we stirred with the stirring rod, and the jello was all-liquid.

Beaker 2: After immediately putting in the jello, we saw no signify change. Two minutes later, we noticed that a small bit of the jello was turning watery, and small amounts of bubbles were forming. After five minutes, we did not see any other signify change.

Beaker 3: No change was saw immediately, after two minutes no bubbles nor liquid formed. After five minutes, nothing changed.

5 pages, 2028 words

The Term Paper on The Solubility Curve Of Potassium Nitrate Experiment Report

The chemical compound potassium nitrate is a naturally occurring mineral source of nitrogen. It is a nitrate with chemical formula KNO3. Its common names include saltpetre (from Medieval Latin sal petrae: “stone salt” or possibly “Salt of Petra”), American English salt peter, Nitrate of potash and nitre. The name salt peter is also applied to sodium nitrate. Description: ...

Beaker 4: Since there isn’t an independent variable inside this beaker, it is not expected to change.

Conclusion

My hypothesis was supported by the results from my raw data, as the fresh pineapple was indeed the fastest at breaking down gelatin with its bromalin enzyme. Further, also proving that frozen pineapple and canned pineapple are not so effective at breaking down the gelatin. As expected, my results were coinciding with that of the published results. Bromelain works in these capacities due to its ability to separate amino acids. Amino acids are organic compounds within living cells. Amino acids join by forming peptide bonds, a link that connects one amino acid’s amino group with the carboxyl group of another amino acid. When amino acids join through peptide bonds, they form proteins. These proteins then carry out numerous functions in the structure and operation of cells, tissues and organs (howstuffworks.com).

Bromelain can separate amino acids breaking down the bonds between them, they also separate the proteins. But if the pineapple is either cooked or frozen, the bromelain enzyme will denature due to extreme high or low heat, and will not be as effective. Bromelain will denature beyond 70 degrees Celsius, and its optimum temperature is 35-40 degrees Celsius (Wikipedia).

Evaluation

In my opinion, I am not really confident with my results, as I only had the chance to do this lab once. I would be more confident about the results if we were able to do multiple trials of this lab, because I will be able to find out the mean average of the time for each of the reaction times of the beakers. Some important errors were the presence of uncontrollable variables, the lack of precision during the experiment and the unreliability of the measurement and observations. First, there were some variables, which was beyond my ability to control. For example, I was not able to control the ripeness of the pineapple, which can be very influential to our experiment, as the more ripe the pineapple becomes, the more bromelain it possesses (howstuffworks.com).

Second, we were not very precise in our experiment, as we cut our fresh and canned pineapple in triangular cubes, but our frozen pineapple were in the shape of pineapple rings. This could have affected the available surface area of the independent variable to change, which can ultimately change the rate of enzyme reaction as there are more/ less surface area for the pineapple enzyme to react with the jello. Third, the electronic scale used in our experiment has an uncertainty of ±0.01 gram, and an error in this would have affected an error in the measuring of the jello, which can dramatically affect the experiment results. If I have another chance to re-do my experiment, these are the errors which I would certainty fix. Because of the above mentioned, I was not able to be very confident in the final outcome of my results. However, there were more limitations which might have had affected our experimental performance. Our beakers used might have been contaminated with the excess, uncleaned scrap from previous experiments, which can affect the outcome of this experiment, especially if there are other unknown enzymes left over in the beakers. Also, for the frozen and canned pineapple, different brands of those can have different effects. For example, the “Dole” brand of canned pineapple can have different ingredients/production methods compared to another brand. By only using the “Dole” brand of canned pineapple, we are only able to find out the effects of this specific brand of canned pineapples, but this result might not be the same as other brand’s canned pineapples, because the ingredients and method of production may differ.

4 pages, 1801 words

The Term Paper on Biology: Experiment

Aim: The aim of the experiment is to test the effect temperature has on the activity of the enzyme rennin. Hypothesis: I believe the rate of reaction will speed up as the temperature increases until it reaches about 37oC, which is the body temperature, where it will begin to slow down and stop reacting. I believe this will occur because enzymes have a temperature range at which they work best in ...

Ways to improve

As mentioned in the evaluation, if I have a chance to improve this lab, I would eliminate the presence of uncontrollable variables, the lack of precision during the experiment and the unreliability of the measurement and observations. Further more, I’ve also brainstormed some ways to change this experiment. I researched online, and realize that bromelain existed in not only pineapples, but also other fruits, such as kiwi (www.ehow.com).

If I have a chance, I would want to design a lab where I am able to use different types of fruits which contain bromelain, and compare which one has the most enzymes. On the other hand, bromelain can break down collagen, and collagen is found in the flesh and bones of animals. I wish to test the efficiency of bromelain breaking down meat(steak) , and compare it to this experiment to see which is more efficient.

3 pages, 1142 words

The Essay on Responses Of Enzyme Activity From PH And Concentration

Abstract Enzymes are the key to many of the chemical reactions that our bodies depend on to live. Without enzymes, we would not exist. These biological catalysts speed up the reactions as well as reduce the amount of activation energy needed to complete the process. Knowing how important enzymes are to us, it is important to realize what they require to function. They need select conditions and ...

Works Cited

” JELL-O Gelatin Snacks – JELL-O Gelatin, Pudding, and No-Bake Desserts.” Great Recipes, Dinner Ideas and Quick & Easy Meals from Kraft Foods. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2012. <http://www.kraftbrands.com/Jello/products/gelatin/desserts/>.

“Collagen – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collagen>.

Jenkins, Alice. “What Fruits Is Bromelain Found In? | eHow.com.” eHow | How to Videos, Articles & More – Discover the expert in you. | eHow.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2012. <http://www.ehow.com/facts_7206651_fruits-bromelain-found-in_.html>.

“Pineapple/Jell-O Lab ~ Regulation of Enzyme Activity.” School Improvement in Maryland. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2012. <http://mdk12.org/instruction/curriculum/hsa/biology/enzyme_activity/teachers_guide_engagement2.html>.

Scheve, Tom. “HowStuffWorks “Bromelain: Enemy of Proteins Everywhere “.” HowStuffWorks “Science”. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2012. <http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/edible-innovations/pineapple-enzyme-tenderize-steak1.htm>.

“enzyme activity.” woodrow. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2012. <www.woodrow.org/teachers/chemistry/institutes/1986/exp22.html>.

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