How do protease in some fruit juices help softening meat?
Problem: How do protease in some fruit juices help softening meat?
Hypothesis: The protease in some fresh juices digests collagen, which gives meat a tough texture by holding meat fibres together.
Design of investigation:
In order to test the hypothesis, the presence of protease in those fresh juices was tested at first. Then the amount of them was needed to be compared for finding their difference in effectiveness in tenderizing meat. Control experiments were set up for proving protease was taking part in softening meat. According to the hypothesis, protease is in charge of breaking down protein and softening meat.
The independent variable is the concentration of protease present in some fruit juices. To manipulate the independent variables, different kinds of fruit extracts which representing different source of protease should be tested in order to get a more comprehensive result. In this experiment, pineapple, papaya and kiwifruit were used because of their high amounts of protease. After all we can have a set of samples of different concentration of protease.
In this experiment, a plate of milk agar is needed for comparing the result of each sample. Circular wells were dug on the milk agar plates by the use of cork borer, and extracts could be put into the wells by dropper. One must note that milk-agar is white in color due to casein. If protease is present, casein will be digested by the enzyme giving a clear zone in the milk-agar plate. The size of the clear zone can help us to determine whether fruits differ in their in concentration of protease and effectiveness in softening meat.
The dependent variables are the size of the clear zone. To measure these variables, we should use a ruler to measure the diameter of the clear zones caused by different fruit juices. The amount of protease presented can be compared by performing the above test and then knowing their effectiveness in softening meat.
The results which were expected to obtain
Hypothesis: The protease in some fresh juices digests collagen, which gives meat a tough texture by holding meat fibres together.
Design of investigation:
In order to test the hypothesis, the presence of protease in those fresh juices was tested at first. Then the amount of them was needed to be compared for finding their difference in effectiveness in tenderizing meat. Control experiments were set up for proving protease was taking part in softening meat. According to the hypothesis, protease is in charge of breaking down protein and softening meat.
The independent variable is the concentration of protease present in some fruit juices. To manipulate the independent variables, different kinds of fruit extracts which representing different source of protease should be tested in order to get a more comprehensive result. In this experiment, pineapple, papaya and kiwifruit were used because of their high amounts of protease. After all we can have a set of samples of different concentration of protease.
In this experiment, a plate of milk agar is needed for comparing the result of each sample. Circular wells were dug on the milk agar plates by the use of cork borer, and extracts could be put into the wells by dropper. One must note that milk-agar is white in color due to casein. If protease is present, casein will be digested by the enzyme giving a clear zone in the milk-agar plate. The size of the clear zone can help us to determine whether fruits differ in their in concentration of protease and effectiveness in softening meat.
The dependent variables are the size of the clear zone. To measure these variables, we should use a ruler to measure the diameter of the clear zones caused by different fruit juices. The amount of protease presented can be compared by performing the above test and then knowing their effectiveness in softening meat.
The results which were expected to obtain