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Catechol Oxidase Lab Essay

Decent Essays

The Effect of Different Concentrations of the Enzyme Catechol Oxidase on the Rate of Benzoquinone Production When Mixed with Pure Catechol

Carson Levine
November 4th, 2013

Abstract

Catechol oxidase is an enzyme that speeds up the oxidation reaction when catechol is exposed to oxygen. When the reaction occurs, benzoquinone is produced turning the oxidized substance brown. It was hypothesized that the higher the concentration of catechol oxidase, the browner the substance will turn, and the faster it will achieve the color. In the present lab, different concentrations of catechol oxidase were mixed with pure catechol and the rate at which each solution browned was measured using a colorimeter. The …show more content…

This is because each kind of apple has a different concentration of catechol oxidase (Daniela Finkel, 2013). Therefore, each apple has a unique speed at which it will produce benzoquinone, and turn brown.

This experiment was designed to investigate the following hypothesis:
The higher the concentration of catechol oxidase, the browner the substance will be, and the faster it will achieve the color (Enzyme Procedure Guide, 2013).

Within the experiment, pure catechol was mixed with different concentrations of catechol oxidase and the rate at which each solution produced benzoquinone was measured. The amount of benzoquinone made throughout the trials was measured by using a colorimeter to measure the level of “brownness” of the liquid. The colorimeter worked by shining a light through the liquid and then measuring that light on the other side to see how much of it was absorbed. In this experiment, absorbance of blue light was measured because blue light is absorbed by the color brown. The amount of blue light absorbance was measured every 15 seconds for five minutes. Because enzymes speed up reactions, more enzymes would cause the reaction to be even faster.1

Procedure/Materials and Methods

The lab leaders and the Punk Rock Warlord prepared three different concentrations of catechol oxidase by extracting potato juice (because it contains lots of catechol oxidase). Pure catechol, a 5mL test tube, 1mL/5mL

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