Name: Aakriti Adhikari Course: Bs Bio 3-1

Student id: 19-2-02706 Date: 3/11/2021

1. Read some articles about H.PYLORI and STOMACH ULCERS, make a reaction paper
about that topic containing 200 words.
H.pylori, Heliobacter pylori is a bacteria that causes infections leading to ulcer in the
stomach. This bacteria secretes an enzyme called urease which corrodes the tissue
lining of the stomach and the first part of the small intestine that protects the
stomach from the acid used for digestion. The enzyme urease makes the stomach
acid less acidic which weakens the stomach’s lining. H. pylori is common and about
two-thirds of the world’s population and for most people it doesn’t cause ulcer or any
other problems. It then causes the area to be red and swollen. However, H. pylori
can also make the stomach produce more acid so its full potential is still unknown.
For its detection blood test, stool culture and breath test is done where the breath of
the patient is checked for the carbon molecule after ingesting urea pill. Some of the
symptoms vary from gastritis to ulcer causing them a dull pain that doesn’t go away
in the stomach, weight loss, swelling or bloating, burping, loss of appetite.

2. Read an article about ENZYME BROWNING: DISCOLORATION OF FRUITS AND

VEGETABLES, make a reaction paper about that topic containing 300 words.

Enzyme browning is the result of the oxidation of the enzyme such as the browning
of a slice of apple after leaving for sometime. The oxygen in the air reacts with phenols
and phenolase present in the apple reacts especially the phenolase after reacting with
the oxygen changes the phenols into melanin which causes the browning of the apple.
The reaction is a result of as mentioned phenolic compounds’ oxidation by polyphenol
oxidase (PPO) triggering the dark pigments. Phenolic compounds are accounted for the
color, bitterness, flavor and astringency and nutritional qualities in fruits and vegetables.
Fruits and vegetables are made up of lots of macromolecules including the
enzymes which are the protein molecule acting as a catalyst for the biological reactions.
These enzymes are responsible for the ripening of fruits and vegetables and when they
are exposed into the environment by either being crushed, sliced or aging causing them
to undergo oxidation to cause the browning. And it negatively affected the fruits and
vegetables causing them to be thrown out in the market. However, not all browning is
bad as some of the beneficial browning is for the color and flavor in coffee, cocoa beans,
tea and dried fruits such as figs and raisins.
The reaction starts when the phenols are oxidised by polyphenol oxidase into the
quinones where the state of strong electrophilic affinity to a nucleophilic attraction to the
other proteins and they polymerize due to enzyme cascade forming the melanosis which
is the brown pigment on the surface of the food. And the amount of browning depends
on the amount of active polyphenol oxidase present in the food. And to avoid the
browning multiple methods have been used both physically and chemically. The use of
sulfites has been rejected due to its potential hazards and heating, using ion exchange
 filtration in winemaking, cold treatment, oxygen elimination, using antioxidants,
acidification, chelating agents to control the enzymatic browning.

3. What are the medical uses of enzymes?

Enzymes are the macromolecules found in our body in huge amounts as without it life is
not possible. It is a catalyst for the biological process, if it were not present even a simple
reaction would take days to complete. They are found everywhere, not only in the human
body, in the environment, and at the bottom of the ocean. The enzymes are extracted
from such places or organisms such as bacteria and moulds to achieve the expeditious
speed of a chemical change while not using excessive energy and remains undegraded.
Some of the enzymes are used as detergent specifically as to clean reusable medical
devices such as protease and lipase. Protease breaks down the protein-rich stains such
as blood and lipase breaks down the fatty stains such as adipose tissue, other enzymes
such as amylase and cellulase which breaks down the starch and cellulosic polymers in
waste such as faeces.
Other as a diagnosis tool such as use of aldohexoses enzyme to detect the level of
glucose in blood, presence of certain enzymes in the blood, therapeutic accelerators. It
is used to treat some disorders such as breaking the internal blood clots, dissolve the
hardening of walls of blood vessels and dissolve the wound swelling to promote healing.
They are also used to assist metabolism in geriatric patients, assist drug delivery into the
deeper tissues such as hyaluronidase.
Lepirudin is a protein-based direct thrombin inhibitor that is used to prevent and reverse
the action of thrombus formation in heparin-induced thrombocytopenia.
Alpha-1-proteinase inhibitors are a purified form of human alpha-1 proteinase inhibitor
used for the treatment of emphysema patients with these inhibitor deficiency.
Fluvoxamine is a serotonin-reuptake inhibitor used to treat obsessive-compulsive
disorder.

Reference
● https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/helicobacter-pylori#:~:t
ext=cause%20of%20ulcers.-,H.,less%20acidic%20(neutralizes%20them).
● https://www.ifst.org/lovefoodlovescience/resources/fruit-and-vegetables-enzymic-brownin
g#:~:text=Enzymic%20browning%20is%20an%20oxidation,oxidation%20in%20order%2
0to%20occur.
● https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_browning
● https://infinitabiotech.com/blog/enzymes-in-medicine/