Starch/Amylase Experiment Essay

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Starch/Amylase Experiment During the starch/amylase experiment the effects of enzyme digestion were simulated. The main components of the experiment were cooked starch and amylase. In biology, starch is a polysaccharide carbohydrate that is made up of a multitude of glucose monosaccharide units bonded together. Starch is found in many seeds and plants, and is a crucial component in an animal’s diet because starch allows the animal to store excess glucose and also to use it as food. The enzyme Amylase is very important to this process because it assists in breaking down starch molecules into glucose which is needed as an energy source in the mitochondria of an organism. In an animal’s body starch and amylase work together to keep the animal healthy and nutritionally satisfied. A solution that is used to indicate the presence of starch is Lugol’s reagent (I2KI) also known as Lugol’s iodine. Lugol’s stains the starch a blue/black color due to the iodine’s reaction with the starch’s polysaccharides. In the experiment, two beakers were filled with water. One was the control, and consisted of dialysis tubing containing only starch; the other was the experiment and consisted of dialysis tubing containing starch and amylase. Lugol’s reagent was added drop wise into the water surrounding the tubing in both beakers. The beakers were allowed to sit for a short period of time. The solution in the dialysis tubing of the control beaker began to darken into a blue black color as the dialysis tubing is a semi permeable membrane and allows the water and Lugol’s to pass through by diffusion. Diffusion is the passage of solute molecules from regions of high concentration to regions of low concentration. In the experimental beaker containing the tubing with starch and amylase no color change was observed. In conclusion, the experiment worked. Starch cannot cross a plasma
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