Abstract
Charlene Patterson
The purpose of this project was to observe how the digestion of protein varies at different pH levels. My hypothesis was that a pH level of 4 would digest the protein fastest.A protein, albumin, was placed into four test tubes for each of the seven pH levels being used. Then, the buffer solution for each pH level was placed into their respective tubes. After a period of ten minutes, Ninhydrin Isopranol was placed one of the tubes for each pH level. This step was repeated every ten minutes. Then after being centrifuged, the solutions were observed for color change and the absorbance was recorded using a spectrophotometer at 580 nm.
As the pH level increased, the rate of digestion also increased rapidly. From a pH level of eight and up, the digestion was almost immediate. At lower pH levels, the rate of digestion was rather slow. Therefore the data given did not support the original hypothesis.