Catabolic enzymes breakdown polymers, anabolic enzymes bond monomers together to form polymers. For example, lactase is an enzyme that breaks down milk, which lactose intolerant people lack. ATP synthase is an anabolic enzyme which adds a phosphate to ADP to make ATP. Both types of enzymes are necessary for organisms to survive. In this lab, the enzyme peroxidase was used. Peroxidase breaks down peroxide, a byproduct of cellular respiration. The reaction occurs as follows:
Peroxidase + Hydrogen peroxide → Complex → Peroxidase + Water + Oxygen(g)
Because the peroxidase is an enzyme, is it not consumed by the reaction. Using pH buffers, the pH was kept in a certain range, be it close to pH 3, pH 5, etc. pH effects that shape and other properties of the enzyme, which in turn affect the reaction. The amount of product produced by reactions can compared by analyzing the amount transmittance and absorbance of the sample. This transmittance is how much light is passes through the sample, and absorbance is how much light is absorbed by the sample. Because this product is not opaque, it blocks some of the light passing through the sample in the spectrophotometer. Therefore, the more absorbance (and less transmittance) of the sample, the more product is being produced by the