4 Enzymes and metabolism

4.1 Enzymes and metabolism

1 Metabolism (新陳代謝) is divided into catabolism (分解代謝) and anabolism (合成代謝):

2 Enzymes (酶) are biological catalysts

(催化劑). They speed up chemical

reactions in organisms by lowering
the activation energy (活化能) of the
reactions.

4.2 Actions and properties of enzymes

1 The working principle of enzymes:
- Each enzyme has an active site (活性部位).
- Substrate (受質) binds to the active site to form an enzyme-substrate complex
(酶受質複合物). This greatly lowers the activation energy of the reaction.
- The substrate is converted into products (生成物), which then leave the active site.
2 Enzyme actions are specific (專一的):
- Each enzyme has a unique active site, which has a specific shape. It only acts on substrates
that can fit into its active site.
- The specificity of enzyme actions can be explained by the lock-and-key hypothesis
(鎖鑰假說).

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3 Properties of enzymes:
- Enzymes are biological catalysts.
- The actions of enzymes are specific.
- Enzymes are proteins. Their structures and hence their activity are easily affected by
temperature and pH.
- Enzymes are reusable.
- Enzymes are needed in relatively small amounts.

4.3 Factors affecting enzyme activity

Temperature
1 The effects of temperature on enzyme activity:

Temperature Enzyme activity Reason

At low Low - Enzymes are inactive (不活躍). The kinetic energy of

temperatures enzyme and substrate molecules is low.

As temperature Increases - Both enzyme and substrate molecules have more

rises kinetic energy. They collide with each other more
frequently; the chance of forming enzyme-substrate
At optimum Reaches a
complexes increases.
temperature maximum
(最適溫度) - Enzymes work best at their optimum temperature.

At high Decreases - High temperatures cause a change in shape of the

temperatures active site of the enzyme molecule. The enzyme is
denatured (變性).
- The substrate can no longer fit into the active site of
the enzyme to form the enzyme-substrate complex.
- The enzyme loses its catalytic ability permanently.

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pH
2 The effects of pH on enzyme activity:

pH Enzyme activity Reason

At optimum pH Reaches a - Enzymes work best at their optimum pH.

maximum

At unsuitable Decreases - Unsuitable pH causes denaturation of the enzyme.

pH - The substrate can no longer fit into the active site
of the enzyme to form the enzyme-substrate
complex.
- The enzyme loses its catalytic ability permanently.

Inhibitors
3 Inhibitors (抑制劑) are substances that decrease the activity of enzymes. Examples of
inhibitors are cyanide (氰化物) and heavy metals.

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4.4 Applications of enzymes
1 Enzymes are used in many different areas:

Type of enzyme
Area Product Use of enzyme
present

Food industry Cheese Proteases Coagulate (凝固) milk

(蛋白酶)

Fruit juice Pectinase Breaks down the pectin (果膠) in

(果膠酶) plant cell wall to increase the
yield of juice; breaks down the
pectin in the juice to make the
juice looks clear

Liquid-centred Invertase Breaks down the sugars into

chocolate (轉化酶) more soluble forms

Environmental Biofuel (生物燃料) Cellulase Breaks down the cellulose in

protection (e.g. bioethanol (纖維素酶) crops into sugars to increase the
(生物乙醇)) yield of biofuel

Biodegradable An enzyme Breaks down the plastic to

(可生物降解的) plastic extracted from a shorten the time for a plastic bag
bacterium to degrade

Cooking Meat tenderizers Papain (木瓜酶) Breaks down the proteins in meat
(鬆肉粉) to soften the meat

Detergent Biological washing Proteases and Break down the insoluble

powders lipase (脂肪酶) proteins and lipids in stains into
soluble products

Cosmetics Cleansers Papain Breaks down dead cells in the

skin

Textiles Stonewashed jeans Cellulase Breaks down the cellulose fibres

(石磨藍牛仔褲) of the jeans

Medicine Drugs Lysozyme Breaks down the cell wall of

(溶菌酶) certain bacteria to kill them

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2 Advantages of using enzymes in the production of commercial products:

Property of enzyme Advantage

Speed up chemical reactions Shortens production time and allows the mass
production of products

Many work at moderate conditions Does not require extreme conditions, such as very
high temperatures and pressures

Specific in action Produces fewer unwanted products

Reusable and are needed in small Lowers the cost of production

amounts only

3 Limitations of using enzymes in the production of commercial products:

Property of enzyme Limitation

Sensitive to temperature and pH Cannot be used if the production process involves a

changes high temperature or an unsuitable pH

Easily affected by inhibitors All containers used in the production processes

have to be clean to prevent the containers from
being contaminated with inhibitors

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