Question

A beverage company advertises a new iced drink that contains important enzymes to help with digestion. What is an accurate conclusion about their claim?

A. The drink contains enzymes but they are inactive.

B. The claim is false because enzymes don't help with digestion.

C. The enzymes in the drink will increase digestion.

D. The drink probably contains very few enzymes.

Answer 1

An enzyme works as a catalyst. If you have a substrate that is altered into something else, the enzyme helps to speed up the process. It doesn't alter the substrate, nor does it change itself, but it binds so it can give the substrate enough kinetic energy (=speed) to become something new. So any metabolic process would involve enzymes. Thus enzymes are a major help in speeding up digestion. And you can find them chemically in certain products (such as biological washing powder to speed up the elimination of fat). Most enzymes though are proteins, and thus are generally found in biological matter: so you could find in beer, fruit juices, dairy, meat tenderizers. Does that info help to select your answer?

Answer 2

Wow, yes it does! Thanks for being so detailed

Answer 3

Oh and enzymes in the lab are kept on ice ;-)

Answer 4

"Enzymes need to be stored and used at their optimum temperatures. Enzymes are generally stored in glycerol at -20C. This prevents them from freezing completely, which causes protein denaturation and results in a loss of activity. Enzymes will also denature if they are warmed up, repeatedly exposed to temperature fluctuations, or stored at room temperature for extended periods of time. Therefore, enzymes need to be kept cold at all times, even if you are just pipetting out of them quickly." from this article http://bitesizebio.com/10536/using-enzymes-at-the-bench-keep-it-in-the-cooler-on-ice-or-at-rt/