Catalysts and Enzymes

• Biological Catalyst= enzymes, they are proteins that speed up chemical reactions without being used up
• What are the enzymes that break down lipids, proteins and starch?

  Lipase, Protease and Amylase
• Lock and Key hypothesis:

  Enzymes have a specific active site shape that perfectly fits the substrate, similar to how a key fits into a specific lock. When the substrate binds to the enzyme's active site, an enzyme-substrate complex forms, allowing the enzyme to catalyze the reaction and convert the substrate into products. The enzyme is not changed by the reaction and can be used repeatedly

  
• Factors affecting enzyme action:

  • pH
  • temperature
  • concentration of substrate
• pH affects enzyme reaction as enzymes work optimally at pH 7. If it is too high or low, the shape of the active site to change
• Temperature affects enzyme reaction as it affects the energy provided to the enzyme and substrate. Above optimum temperature will lead to the active site to denature but more collisions. Below optimum temperature will lead to the enzymes and substrate to have less energy and fewer collisions
• Metabolism= the sum of all the chemical reactions in a cell or organism