CHEMISTRY

Chemistry
Project
PROJECT
A study of enzymatic hydrolysis of
starch
Study of Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Starrch

Joel Abraham, XII A

Shishya BEML Public School
 Acknowledgement
First and foremost, I would like to thank my Chemistry
Teachers Mrs. Vandana Singh and Mrs. Sindhu who guided
me throughout, with each and every aspect of this project.
They provided me with invaluable advice and helped me in
difficult periods when I was at a crossroads. Their motivation
and help contributed tremendously to the successful
completion of this project.
I would also like to thank my family for their support.
Without their support I wouldn’t have succeeded in
completing this project and submitting it on time.
I would also like to thank my classmates who assisted me and
helped tremendously in providing me with instructions on
various points in the project.
And last but not least, I would like to thank everyone who
helped and motivated me to work on this project.
Thank You.

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 Index

TITLE PAGE NO.

Acknowledgment 1
Certificate 2
Introduction 3
Aim 4
Reaction 5
6

Requirements
7
Procedure
8
Observation 9
Conclusion 10

Bibliography 11
 Introduction
Saliva is an extracellular fluid produced and secreted by salivary
glands in the mouth. Our saliva is around 99% water, along with
electrolytes, mucus, white blood cells, epithelial cells,
antimicrobial agents (such as lysozymes and lgA) and most
importantly digestive enzymes such as lipase and amylase. In
this project, we will be exploring the digestion of starch by
amylase (also known as ptyalin) into simpler sugars such as
maltose and dextrin. Amylase is an enzyme which acts as a
catalyst for the hydrolysis of starch into its component
sugars. It is present both in humans and in some other animals,
where it initiates the digestive process. This is why rice and
potatoes may acquire a slightly sweet taste upon chewing as
despite having little sugar content, their large starch content is
hydrolysed and degraded into
disaccharides and trisaccharides by amylase (specifically, α-
amylase) produced in the salivary gland and the pancreas.

3
 Aim

To observe the enzymatic hydrolysis of starch by

emulating conditions inside a human mouth.

4
 Reaction

Figure 1: Hydrolysis of the amylose backbone of starch by α-

amylase to maltose (disaccharide) and glucose (monosaccharide)

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 Requirements

Materials Required
1. Boiling tube
2. Beaker
3. Water bath
Chemicals Required
1. Distilled water
2. 1% Sodium chloride solution
3. Iodine solution

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 Procedure
◦
1. Take about 20-30mL of warm distilled water (20-30 C in the
mouth and mix it with the saliva by gargling in the mouth.

2. Collect the saliva mixed with water in a beaker.

3. Take 10mL of the starch solution in a boiling tube and add 2mL
of 1% sodium chloride solution in it.

◦
4. Keep the boiling tube in a water bath, maintained at 30-40 C
for at least 15 minutes

5. Pour 2mL of the saliva solution into the boiling tube and start the
stopwatch immediately.

6. Take out 2-3 drops of the mixture after one minute and pour it
in the test tube containing iodine solution.

7. Shake the contents of the test tube and note the colour of the
the solution, if any.

8. Take out 2-3 drops of the mixture from the boiling tube every
minute and add to the iodine solution in the test tubes.

9. Record the colour of the solution in each case. Stop taking readings
when there is no change in colour.

10. Record the readings in tabular form.

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Observations

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 Conclusion
We observe that after . . . seconds, the solution no longer has a
colour, which implies that there is no longer any starch present in
the solution.This affirms that the amylase present in the saliva
does break down the polysaccharide starch into simpler sugars,
which do not give the iodine test.

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 Bibliography
1. Projects. Chemistry Laboratory Manual for
Class XII (pp. 127).
2. Amylase, Alpha - Worthington Enzyme Manual.
Worthington Biochemical.
https://www.worthington-
biochem.com/products/amylasealpha/manual

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