Question

Enzymes are sensitive to
A. Rainfall
B. Light
C. pH
D. Wind velocity

Answer 1

Enzymes are those compounds that are used for speeding up a spontaneous reaction. They are usually obtained from micro-organisms such as bacteria and fungi. They are usually used in increasing the productivity in the reaction but at times it gets hampered by some external substances.

Complete answer:
Enzymes are organic compounds that are produced by living cells so as to speed up and regulate the rate of spontaneous biochemical reactions. The phenomenon is called catalysis and the enzymes that are used in the reaction are called biocatalysts. The chemicals that undergo a change in a reaction catalysed by an enzyme are called substrates.

Enzymes are also sensitive to pH. If we change the pH around the enzyme’s surroundings, it will also change the shape of the active site of an enzyme. There are some enzymes that act best in an acid medium while some in an alkaline medium. For every enzyme, there is an optimum pH where its action is maximum. Most enzymes show maximum capacity in a pH range of about 6.0 to 7.5. A shift to the alkaline or acid side rapidly decreases the enzyme activity and finally stops it altogether.

The amino acids that are present in the enzyme molecule carry a charge. Within these molecules, the amino acids that carry positive and negative charges will attract each other. It will lead to the folding of the enzyme molecules, shape and the shape of the active site will get affected. Changes in the pH of the enzyme will affect the charges on the amino acid molecules. The amino acids cannot attract each other and it will lead to a change in the shape of the enzyme and the active site.

It happens due to the denaturation of the enzyme molecules, i.e., a change in its physical structure. Some digestive enzymes have their optimum activity in the acidic or alkaline medium and drop-in activity as the pH falls or rises. The changes are though not permanent, it keeps on changing with. Different parts of the digestive glands produce different kinds of enzymes that work at different optimum pH. Pepsin of the gastric juice has its optimum at pH 2 (Acidic) and trypsin of pancreatic juice shows maximum activity at pH 8.8 (alkaline.

Note: All enzymes are proteins. They have a specific three-dimensional tertiary structure produced by many kinds of noncovalent interactions. Many of them even contain non-protein substances which are called prosthetic groups. They may be organic or inorganic compounds.