Enzymes

The colours and times come from a teaching model, not from a real amylase. Starch is broken down at a rate that rises with temperature, because the molecules move faster and collide more often. Above about 45 °C the enzyme loses the shape of its active site over time (denaturation), faster the hotter it is; at 70 °C this happens during the 5 minutes in the bath. The model is set so that 40 °C is the best of the tested temperatures and pH 7 the best of the three buffers: real amylases differ with where they come from.

With sampling every 30 seconds, the true end point lies somewhere in the 30 seconds before the first orange-brown drop. The drawings of molecules are schematic, not to scale.