Biol.

261 Unit 4

Digestive Enzyme Lab

Objectives
1. To describe the enzymatic digestion of carbohydrates by salivary amylase
2. To describe the enzymatic digestion of protein by pepsin
3. To describe the emulsification of fat by bile salts
4. To understand the enzymatic digestion of fat by pancreatic lipase

Background Information:
The digestive system breaks down food (complex polymers) into monomers through enzymatic
digestion. Only very small molecules, such as monosaccharides or amino acids can be
absorbed across the gut epithelia. This lab will examine the optima for 3 important digestive
enzymes.
GENERAL NOTES:
This lab requires a lot of work at the beginning and the end of the lab period. BE ON TIME and
work as a team to get ALL tubes incubating at once in order to get the best results. Use plastic
tubes unless otherwise indicated.
Lab Exercise 1: Digestion of Starch by Salivary Amylase
The digestion of a carbohydrate such as starch begins in the mouth, where is it mixed with
saliva containing the enzyme salivary amylase. Starch, a long chain of repeating glucose
molecules, is hydrolyzed (cut) by amylase into shorter polysaccharide chains and eventually into
the disaccharide maltose (known as a reducing sugar), which consists of two glucose subunits:

In this experiment, you will examine the effects of pH and temperature on the activity of salivary
amylase. You will measure the activity of salivary amylase by measuring the amount of product
formed using Benedict’s reagent, which consists of an alkaline solution of cupric ions (Cu++).
Cupric ions will be reduced to cuprous ions (Cu+) in the presence of maltose, forming a visible
yellow-colored precipitate of cuprous oxide (Cu2O).

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Procedure: Use glass tubes for all experiments (see cheat sheet on next page)
1. Set up a hot plate with a beaker of tap water and set to high.
2. Label 5 clean test tubes 1 – 5.
2. Obtain 10 ml of saliva (use a cup and then measure and transfer using a disposable 1.0 ml
transfer pipette.) Think about chocolate chip cookies if necessary. If this doesn’t work,
chew a piece of paraffin. ONLY 1 PERSON PROVIDES SALIVA. NO MIXING!!!
3. Add 3.0 ml of distilled water to tube 1.
4. Add 3.0 ml of saliva to tubes 2 and 3.
5. Add 3 drops of concentrated HCl to tube 3 (in the hood).
6. Bring to just a boil the remaining saliva in a glass test tube by placing it in the simmering
water bath. Use a test-tube clamp and keep the tube at an angle, pointed away from your
face and from your neighbors. When it is cool, label this tube as tube 4.
7. Add 3.0 ml of maltose to tube 5 (tube 5 is a positive control for both starch and maltose).
8. Add 5.0 ml of starch to all 5 tubes.
9. Incubate all tubes in a 37°C water bath for at least 1.5 hours.
10. Label 5 new test tubes 1 – 5.
11. Divide the contents from the first set of 5 tubes in half by pouring half of the contents from
each into the newly labeled tubes. Use a small piece of Parafilm wax to cover each tube
and mix before dividing the contents.
12. Test one set of 5 tubes for starch by adding a few drops of Lugol’s reagent (containing
iodine) to each tube. A positive result is indicated by the development of a purplish black
color (see Fig. 1). Record your results.
13. Test the other set of 5 tubes for the presence of maltose by adding 5.0 ml of Benedict’s
reagent to each of the tubes and then immersing them in a rapidly boiling water bath for 2
minutes (see Fig. 2).
14. Remove the tubes from the water bath and rate the result using the following scale after a
few minutes:
Blue (no maltose) -
Green +
Yellow ++
Orange +++
Red (most maltose) ++++

Figure 1

Figure 2

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Record the results in your lab notebook:

Tube Contents Starch After Incubation Maltose After Incubation

(Lugol’s) (Benedict’s)
Tube 1: starch + distilled water

Tube 2: Starch + saliva

Tube 3: Starch + saliva + HCl

Tube 4: Starch + boiled saliva

Tube 5: Maltose

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Lab Exercise 2: Digestion of Protein (Egg Albumin) By Pepsin

Pepsin is an enzyme that is secreted by the chief cells in the stomach which digests proteins. In
this exercise, you will digest albumin, the major protein in egg whites.
Exercise 2 Procedure (see cheat sheet below):
1. Label 5 clean test tubes. Using a razor blade, cut 5 slices of egg white about the size of a
fingernail and as thin as possible. It is ESSENTIAL that the slices be very thin and as
uniform in size as possible. Place a slice of egg white in each of the five tubes.
2. Add 1 drop of distilled water to tube 1.
3. Add 2 drop of HCl to tubes 2 and 3 and 4 (in the hood).
4. Add 5.0 ml of pepsin to tubes 1, 2, 3 and 5.
5. Add 5.0 ml of distilled water to tube 4.
6. Add 1 drop of NaOH to tube 5 (in the hood).
7. Place tubes 1, 2, 4 and 5 in a 37°C water bath. Place tube 3 in an ice bath. Incubate all
tubes for at least 1.5 hours. Thaw the frozen tube after the incubation.
8. Record the appearance of the egg white in a data table in your lab notebook.

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Record in your lab notebook:

Tube Contents / Incubation Condition Appearance of Egg White After Incubation

(describe)
1: protein + pepsin, 37°C

2: protein + pepsin + HCl, 37°C

3: protein + pepsin + HCl, 0°C

4: protein + HCl, 37°C

5: protein + NaOH, 37°C

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Biol. 261 Unit 4

Lab Exercise 3: Digestion of Fat (cream) by Pancreatic Juice and Bile Salts
Since fat is not soluble in water, dietary fat enters the duodenum in the form of large fat droplets
which must be broken down into much smaller pieces before digestive enzymes can act upon
them. There are two processes required for fat digestion:
Emulsification refers to the breakdown of large droplets into smaller droplets,(just as
dishwashing detergents act on grease). Bile salts are responsible for this.
Digestion of fat into monoglycerides and fatty acids (accomplished by lipases, such as
pancreatic lipase, which you will use today). You can measure the digestion of fats by
lipases because as the fatty acids are produced by enzymatic breakdown, the pH of the
solution drops.

Exercise 3 Procedure (see cheat sheet on next page):

1. Add 3.0 ml of cream to three test tubes, numbered 1-3.

2. Add the following:
Tube 1: add 5.0 ml of water and a pinch of bile salts

Tube 2: add 5.0 ml of pancreatin solution

Tube 3: add 5.0 ml of pancreatin solution AND a pinch of bile salts

3. Check the pH of all tubes and record as ‘time 0.’ Use wide-range pH paper first, then the
narrow-range pH paper. Please conserve pH paper!
4. Incubate the tubes at 37°C for 100 minutes, checking the pH every 20 minutes,
recording the data in your lab notebook.

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Time Tube 1: Cream + Bile Salts Tube 2: Cream + Tube 3: Cream + Bile
Pancreatin Salts + Pancreatin
0 minutes

20 minutes

40 minutes

60 minutes

80 minutes

100 minutes

Post-Lab Questions:

Salivary Amylase
1. Which tube(s) contained the most starch following incubation? Which tube(s) contained the
most maltose? What conclusions can you draw from these results?

2. Did you have any tubes which tested + for both starch and maltose? What does this mean?
What might happen to the tube if you let it incubate for a longer period of time?

3. Reviewing your data, what do you think happens to salivary amylase once you swallow your
saliva? Explain.

4. What effect does cooking have on enzyme activity? Why?

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Digestion of Albumin by Pepsin

1. What can you conclude about the pH optimum for pepsin? Where in the body might you
find this pH?

2. Compare the effects of HCl on protein digestion by pepsin with the effects of HCl on starch
digestion by salivary amylase. Explain the physiological significance of these effects.

3. Why does freezing food preserve it?

Digestion of Fat by Pancreatic Juice and Bile Salts

1. Explain why the digestion of fats should affect the pH of the solution.

2. What is the function of bile salts?

3. In which tube did fat digestion occur most rapidly? Explain why.