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LAB - Pineapple - Enzymes - Questions - 2025

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45 views

LAB - Pineapple - Enzymes - Questions - 2025

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leirbagnoxid
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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BACKGROUND: Collagen

Your Most Plentiful Protein: Collagen


About one quarter of all of the protein in your body is collagen. Collagen is a major structural protein, forming
molecular cables that strengthen the tendons and vast, resilient sheets that support the skin and internal organs.
Bones and teeth are made by adding mineral crystals to collagen. Collagen provides structure to our bodies,
protecting and supporting the softer tissues and connecting them with the skeleton. It is also a protein found in our skin. But,
in spite of its critical function in the body, collagen is a relatively simple protein.

Collagen on the Grocery Shelf


Collagen from livestock animals is a familiar ingredient for cooking. Like most proteins, when collagen is
heated, it loses all of its structure. The polymer molecule unwinds. Then, when this denatured mass of
protein cools down, it soaks up all of the surrounding water like a sponge, forming gelatin.

BACKGROUND: Bromelain

Pineapple is cultivated for fruit, used fresh, canned, frozen, or made into juices, syrups, or candied. Pineapple bran, the
residue after juicing, is high in vitamin A, and is used in livestock feed. Citric acid may be extracted from the juice, or when
fermented, alcohol can distilled. Commercial bromelain is generally prepared from pineapple wastes. Fresh pineapple is rich
in bromelain, a group of sulfur-containing proteolytic (protein-digesting) enzymes. A mixture of several proteases, bromelain
is used in meat tenderizers, in chill-proofing beer, manufacturing precooked cereals, in certain cosmetics, and in preparations
to treat edema and inflammation. Bromelain is also nematicidal (kills plant and animal parasites such as nematode worms).

Notes
2 important proteins: collagen (found in gelatin) and bromelain (found in pineapple juice)
Collagen Function: Soaks up the water and causes gelatin to solidify (structure)
Bromelain Function: Acts as a proteolytic (protein-digesting) enzyme
Denaturing a protein refers to changing the protein’s configuration, but digestion refers to the breaking of
peptide bonds.

Lab 1: Type of Liquid


● Water- Solid (No bromelain)
● Fresh pineapple- Liquid (Has bromelain)
● Canned pineapple- Solid (Bromelain denatured due to pasteurization)
● Fresh Orange- Solid (No bromelain)

Lab 3: pH Level
● Water- Liquid (Had pineapple juice, and the pH was neutral)
● Acid (1 M HCL)- Solid (Extreme pH level)
● Base (1 M NaOH)- Solid (Extreme pH level)

Lab 2: Temperature
● 40℃-72℃: Liquid
● 72℃-78℃: Liquid/Solid
● 80℃-98℃: Solid

PINEAPPLE POST LAB QUESTIONS -Answer all questions in every section!

ENZYME LAB #1: Different Types of Liquid


1. Those mixtures that remained liquid provide evidence that the protein has been hydrolyzed. The solidified gelatin
was not hydrolyzed. Identify the IDV, DV, and control group.
Variable In Lab #1

IDV The type of liquid that mixed with the gelatin

DV The state of matter of the substances inside the cups

Control Group Cup with water

2. Which of the samples contain active enzymes that hydrolyzed the gelatin protein?
The fresh pineapple juice sample contained active enzymes that were able to hydrolyze the gelatin protein.

ENZYME LAB #2:


3. Identify the IDV, DV, and control group.
Variable In Lab #2

IDV Temperature to which the pineapple juice was heated

DV The state of matter of the substances inside the cups

Control Group Cup of pineapple juice at room temperature

4. When the gelatin is liquid, what can you conclude about the enzyme's activity? Explain.
Based on the information that the gelatin was liquid, can conclude that the enzyme wasn’t denatured fully,
meaning that it could still digest the collagen in the gelatin.
5. When the gelatin is solid, what can you conclude about the enzyme's activity? Explain.
When the gelatin was solid, the enzymes were denatured, meaning that the collagen still was able to give the
gelatin structure.

6. What do you conclude about the temperature at which bromelain’s (the enzyme) 3D structure is altered?
I can conclude that the temperature at which bromelain’s 3D structure was altered was high enough that it
caused the proteins to denature. This probably meant that as the temperature increased past that rate, the
proteins were losing their 3D shape.

7. Why did you have to use fresh pineapple juice in lab 2, rather than canned/concentrated juice?
If canned/concentrated juice were to be used, it would be solid no matter the temperature since the enzymes
are already denatured from the pasteurization in order to concentrate or can the pineapple juice.

ENZYME LAB #3: pH level


8. Identify the IDV, DV, and control group.
Variable In Lab #3

IDV The pH level of the substances inside of the cups

DV The state of matter of the substances inside the cups

Control Group The cup of pineapple juice and water

9. In which cups were signs of liquidity observed?


Signs of liquidity were observed only in the cup with the water.
10. What conclusions about bromelain's (the enzyme) 3D structure can be drawn when bromelain is exposed to an acid
and/or a base?
I can conclude that when the bromelain is exposed to an acid and/or base, it starts to denature, meaning that
the protein loses its shape.

VISUAL/APPLICATION QUESTIONS:
11. Create a visual image (on your own paper) by drawing a picture to represent the enzyme-catalyzed reaction used in
these labs. Label the enzyme, substrate, active site, enzyme-substrate complex, and the products. Assume the
substrate breaks down into 2 products. Note: you can use general shapes for this and make a general drawing; you
do not need to attempt to draw bromelain and collagen or even draw the reaction specific to the lab. Insert a
picture of your image below.

12. What protein is found in gelatin?


Collagen is found in gelatin.

13. Knowing that collagen is a protein in your skin, why is it important for pineapple processors to wear gloves (other
than sanitary reasons)?
This is important because if a large amount of pineapple processors comes in contact with your skin, it can
harm your skin since it has collagen.

14. Why is bromelain used as a meat tenderizer?


Bromelain is used as a meat tenderizer since it is an enzyme that digests proteins. This is good since it helps
break down the meat and make it easier to tenderize.

15. You are invited to your friend's Birthday Luau and have decided to make a Papaya Jell-O dessert to go along with the
Hawaiian menu. To your dismay, your Jell-O did not set and was liquid when you removed it from the refrigerator.
What can you infer (conclude) from these observations? Provide an explanation for this inference.
I can infer that papaya has a certain amount of bromelain. The reason why we can conclude this is because
bromelain causes the collagen to not work.

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