B6g: Enzymes in action Flashcards
Enzymes in biological washing powder (3)
amylases to digest the carbohydrate starch (from foods like pasta/flour)
lipases to digest fat and remove fatty stains (grease)
proteases to digest protein and remove protein stains (blood)
Temperature and pH for biological washing powders (2)
do not work at high temperature/extreme pH (alkaline/acidic tap water) because enzymes denature
work best at moderate temperatures because optimum temperature for enzymes, +rate of enzymatic activity, do not denature; less energy needed (no high temp needed), reduced costs
Why do the products of digestion easily wash out of clothes?
they are soluble in wat
How can sugary foods be made sweeter? (3)
sucrose (sugar from sugar cane) is what is normally used to sweeten foods
sucrose can be broken down into glucose and fructose (which are sweeter and thus useful to the food industry) by the invertase enzyme
foods can thus be sweetened w/o adding so much sugar (e.g. in low calorie foods)
How can enzymes be immobilised in gel beads? (2)
mix enzyme with alginate
drop mixture into calcium chloride solution, causes small beads of alginate gels to form which contain the enzyme
Advantages of immobilising enzymes (2)
enzyme can be removed from reaction mixture by filtering out beads, mixture does not become contaminated with enzyme
immobilised enzymes in alginate beads can be used in continuous flow processing (beads placed in column, reactants put at top, products leave at bottom, enzymes stay fixed)
Condition of lactose intolerance
cannot produce lactase enzyme so bacteria in the gut ferment lactose, producing diarrhoea and wind
Principles behind the production of lactose free milk (2)
beads can be made containing immobilised lactase, when mixing these beads with milk, immobilised lactase converts lactose in milk into glucose and galactose
these simple sugars can then be absorbed
