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How Is the Activity Rate of the Juice Production Affected when an Enzyme Is Used in Different Concentrations, while the Mass of the Fruit Is not Being Changed?
Conclusion and Evaluation
The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the effect that an enzyme, in this case cellulase, has on fruit juice production. That is the rate in which juice is collected and the amount of juice that is collected. The experiment was designed in a way where the amount of the fruit substance was constantly 30 g throughout every trial of every experiment, but the concentration of the enzyme used was changed. Three trials were carried out for each concentration of enzyme used.
Cellulase is an enzyme that breaks down the cell wall of the fruit releasing the juice in a greater speed. The fruit used in the experiment was pear. Pear has a very strong and thick cell wall which keeps the cell firm. I was expecting that if a higher concentration of the enzyme will be used, the more juice will be produced; however I can’t apply this to my results. Throughout the experiment I used pears with different cell structures, which affected the data collected in concentrations of 0,0 ml, 1,0 ml, 1,25 ml and 1,5 ml (where fruit with a tougher cell was used), therefore supporting my hypothesis partially.
Errors I made may have affected the results of the experiment due to the lack of experience I have with self-designed experiments. The fact that I was pouring the substance from a beaker into a test tube might have caused loss of substance in the experiment, therefore differentiating the amount of substance used in every trial. This error might have affected to the accuracy of the experiment, since the amount of pear substance was different in contrast of the amount of enzyme. Another significant error that may cause differentiation of data collected is the trouble I had with pouring the substance of pear and enzyme out of the test tube into the filter funnel, because not 100% of the substance was removed. Due to the errors I have made in this experiment I have learnt to make sure to be more precise therefore checking if the equipment I use is suitable for accurate data collection and reading.
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IB Biology HL IA - „How is the activity rate of the juice production affected when an enzyme is used in different concentrations (0,0 ml, 0,5 ml, 0,75 ml, 1,0 ml, 1,25 ml, 1,5 ml), while the mass of the fruit (pear; 30g) is not being changed?” Background/hypothesis: Enzyme is a substance that is created by a living organism that acts as a catalyst to bring about a biochemical reaction. Enzyme can be affected by its own environmental conditions. These conditions may include temperature, pH level, or the concentration of the enzyme or the substrate (enzymes catalyze a reaction which involve a substrate, however after the reaction, the enzyme is unaltered while the substrate is a part of the end product). Cellulase is an enzyme (aka biological catalyst). Cellulase is a substance that can be found within the cell wall of fruit which keeps the cell firm. Pear has a thick and though cell wall which cannot be broken very easily, therefore taking a while until the juice is extracted naturally. In order to extract juice from a fruit, the cell wall (cellulose) has to be broken. Cellulase increases the speed of the cell breakdown therefore increasing the speed of juice production. The more cellulase is added to a pear (pyrus communis), the more juice will be produced over a specific period of time. Different amount of cellulose is used on the same amount of pear, to show how cellulace affects the speed of cell breakdown, therefore the extraction of juice. In this experiment, five different concentrations of cellulace (independent variables) will be used (0,0 ml, 0,5 ml, 0,75 ml, 1,0 ml, 1,25 ml, 1,5 ml) to show its efficiency.
