Thread: Yeast Invertase

I have a year 12 practical exam in a few weeks and we have to design an experiment to find the optimum ph for a certain enzyme.

I was thinking of trying the enzyme sucrase and placing it in 14 test tubes each with a different ph. Then in each one i place sucrose and then add sucrase and then after a while i test each test-tube for glucose and then, which-ever test-tube has the greatest colouration has the optimum ph condition.

However i am not sure about a few things, firstly i am thinking of putting yeast in each test-tube, will the invertase (sucrase) in the yeast work on the sucrose?

Also, will the yeast die in the more extreme acidic or basic conditions? I guess thats half the point of the experiment but the yeast cells have to survive in most of the ph's otherwise i have nothing to work on.

Thanks in advance.

Do you have a specific assay for the enzyme?

We dont need to use a specific enzyme if thats what you mean. But i found out that it won't work. The acid will break the sucrose down into glucose and fructose anyway making my results invalid.

Thanks anyway