Examples of Enzymes

Beverages

Alcoholic beverages generated by fermentation vary a lot based on many factors. Based on the type of the plant’s product, which is to be used and the type of enzyme applied, the fermented product varies.

For example, grapes, honey, hops, wheat, cassava roots, and potatoes depending upon the materials available. Beer, wines and other drinks are produced from plant fermentation.

Food Products

Bread can be considered as the finest example of fermentation in our everyday life.

A small proportion of yeast and sugar is mixed with the batter for making bread. Then one can observe that the bread gets puffed up as a result of fermentation of the sugar by the enzyme action in yeast, which leads to the formation of carbon dioxide gas. This process gives the texture to the bread, which would be missing in the absence of the fermentation process.

Drug Action

Enzyme action can be inhibited or promoted by the use of drugs which tend to work around the active sites of enzymes.

Mechanism of Enzyme Reaction

Any two molecules have to collide for the reaction to occur along with the right orientation and a sufficient amount of energy. The energy between these molecules needs to overcome the barrier in the reaction. This energy is called activation energy.

Enzymes are said to possess an active site. The active site is a part of the molecule that has a definite shape and the functional group for the binding of reactant molecules. The molecule that binds to the enzyme is referred to as the substrate group. The substrate and the enzyme form an intermediate reaction with low activation energy without any catalysts.