Download The_Effect_of_Enzymes_on_Food_Experiment

The Effect of Enzymes on Food Experiment
Experiment: The students will experience a flavor change in food.
1.
2.
Each student will be given an unsweetened cracker.
The students will place the crackers in their mouths and chew them thoroughly,
but will not swallow them.
3.
The students will continue to chew without swallowing for several minutes.
4.
When the students sense a change in flavor, they may swallow.
5.
The students will record their observations and explain the difference and the
change that takes place in the mouth.
NOTE TO TEACHER: background information on enzyme breakdown of starch.
Enzymes break down food as the digestive process takes place.
Saliva is the moisture in the mouth. It moistens food and contains the enzyme
ptyalin (tie' a lin) which is the first enzyme to start the breakdown (or digestive) process
before the food enters the stomach. Saliva begins to break apart the starch molecules
by changing the starch into simple sugars while the food is in the mouth.
A cracker which has been chewed thoroughly before swallowing has been
changed by the action of the enzyme saliva into simple sugars that the body can use for
energy. The enzyme action stops when the cracker comes in contact with acid in the
stomach. No more starch is digested until the cracker reaches the small intestine. The
flavor of sugar (or sweetness) can be detected while the cracker is still in the mouth.
Because of the importance of enzymes in saliva to the break down of the
starch in food, people should slow their eating process, and chew more thoroughly
before swallowing their food.