Enzyme catalase

The Activity of Enzyme Catalase
I. Introduction: What is an enzyme? It is ¡§a protein serving as a catalyst, a chemical agent that changes the rate of the reaction without being consumed by the reaction¡¨(Campbell: Reece, 2002). Each enzyme acts upon a chemical substance called substrate, which fits into the active site (the portion of the enzyme that attaches itself to the substrate) like a lock and key, and is converted into the products during the reaction. Meanwhile the enzyme is released to act on more substrate molecules available. All enzymes¡¦ names usually end with the suffix ¡§ase.¡¨ Some examples are lactase, maltase, dehydrogenase, and catalase. A Catalase enzyme, ¡§serves to protect the cell from the toxic effects of hydrogen peroxide by catalyzing its decomposition into molecular oxygen and water without the production of free radicals¡¨(Marcey, 2001). In simple terms, it catalyzes the decomposition substrate into products or...