Question

How does temperature influence Lactaid’s ability to break down

Lactose?

Answer 1

Ans-



Ans - Lactase- is a digestive enzyme that catalyzes the break down of lactose, a sugar found in milk. Lactase functions best within limited ranges of both temperature and pH in its given environment, making it dependent on both factors for it to perform this essential reaction. If lactase is rendered nonfunctional because of temperature or pH extremes, the breakdown of lactose stops. When this breakdown ceases in the human body due to insufficient or ineffective lactase, the result is lactose intolerance.

Lactase and Lactose

Lactose is known as a disaccharide, meaning it consists of two smaller sugar molecules, glucose and galactose, bound together with a covalent bond. In its complete form, lactose is indigestible by humans, so it must be hydrolyzed, or broken down, for the body to be able to process it. Lactase catalyzes this process by reducing the amount of energy needed for hydrolysis to occur.

Temperature

Lactase functions best between roughly 70 and 120 degrees Fahrenheit, or somewhere near or just above room temperature, with its function optimized at around 115 degrees Fahrenheit. Cooler temperatures slow the rate of lactase’s function, while at extremely high temperatures -- those above 135 degrees Fahrenheit, for example -- lactase can become denatured, or lose its shape. A protein's shape is responsible for its function, so when it becomes denatured, lactase loses its ability to function.