Such factors as temperature and pH can influence greatly the ability of an enzyme to do its job. The following series of experiments illustrates the principles of enzymatically catalyzed reactions in biological systems. The substrates of catecholase are catechol and oxygen . The substrates react with one another within the active site of the enzyme. This is called the fruit browning reaction.
Benzoquinone inhibits the growth of microorganisms and prevents damaged fruit from rotting.
In undamaged cells catecholase is stored in vesicles and does not interact with catechol. This experiment establishes the standards for appearance when the reaction has or has not taken place. Use distilled water where H2O is indicated. Enzyme Specificity Hydroquinone is structurally similar to but not the same as catechol. In this experiment we will see if the enzyme can also convert it to benzoquinone, or if the enzyme is simply too specific in its design to interact with the similar but not identical molecule.