When testing starch breakdown, why did I get the following results? What was the significance of my results?
The purpose of your experiment was to determine whether starch was broken down into smaller units. In the 1st tube, you added amylase, an enzyme that breaks down starch, into a starch solution. Sure enough, your results indicated that starch was broken down – the brownish red color. In the 2nd tube, you added boiled amylase into a starch solution. By boiling an enzyme, you basically prevent it from working, thus, the starch remained in the solution – with a black color. (There was no breakdown of the starch.) In the 3rd tube, you added water into a starch solution. We know that water will not break down starch. Water is considered to be a “control” for this experiment. Nothing should happen to the starch. It remained in the solution – with a black color. From these results, you can see that amylase will break down starch, but boiling the amylase will not break down starch. Also, adding water to a starch solution, does not break down the starch.
