factors effect on Enzyme

Factors Affecting Enzyme Activity:



The activity of an enzyme describes how fast an enzyme catalyzes the reaction that converts
a substrate to product. This activity is strongly affected by reaction conditions, which
include temperature, pH, and the presence of inhibitors.

1.Temperature
Enzymes are very sensitive to temperature. At low temperatures, most enzymes show little
activity because there is not a sufficient amount of energy for the catalyzed reaction to take
place. At higher temperatures, enzyme activity increases as reacting molecules move faster
to cause more collisions with enzymes. Enzymes are most active at optimum temperature,
which is 37 °C, or body temperature, for most enzymes 1see Figure 16.152. At temperatures
above 50 °C, the tertiary structure, and thus the shape of most proteins, is
destroyed, which causes a loss in enzyme activity. For this reason, equipment in hospitals
and laboratories is sterilized in autoclaves where the high temperatures denature the
enzymes in harmful bacteria.