Enzyme and Catalase help please?

Question

In one of my experiments, I added H2O2 to liver and there was a fast reaction so that means there was catalase. In another experiment, I added H2O2 to hot liver, sand mixed with liver, and liver mixed with acid, and there was no reaction, does that mean there was no catalase?

Answer 1

Here's a site that can help you answer your questions.

In the meantime, yes, there is catalase in liver.

Heating denatures proteins, which means that the catalase is destroyed - so there was no reaction.  Technically, the catalase itself is still in the mixture, but it is no longer functional.

Acid might also denature the catalase, or it could react chemically with the H2O2.  I don't think it reacts chemically, so the best bet is that it did in fact destroy the catalase.  The acid might also fragment the catalase, meaning that technically the catalase itself might no longer be in the mixture.

As for the sand, according to the website, and others, the sand should not interfere with the catalase, in fact it should increase the release of the enzyme, so I don't know exactly why there was no catalase in your experiment.  Perhaps there was a contaminant in with the sand that inhibited the reaction.