Biology Project Paper

BIOLOGY PROJECT WORK
Testing the Effectiveness of Salivary Amylase
★ Hypothesis: The concentration of amylase will significantly impact the degree of starch
digestion. By comparing the levels of starch breakdown across different amylase
concentrations, we aim to observe a clear relationship between the amount of enzyme
present and the effectiveness of starch digestion.
★ Materials Required:
I. Iodine Solution
II. 1 Potato
III. Salivary Amylase (obtained from your saliva)
IV. Glass Jars or Test Tubes
V. Dropper
VI. Labels
VII. Timer
VIII. Measuring Spoons
Constant parameter: The parameters that will remain constant throughout the
experiment are as follows:
→ The amount of starch
→ Amount of iodine
★ Variable parameter: Those parameters that will vary throughout the experiment are as
follows:
→ The amount of salivary amylase
★ Procedure:
1. Wash, peel and grate a single potato
2. Using a measuring spoon, take ½ teaspoon of the grated potato and put it into a
glass jar. Repeat this process 5 times.
3. Collect salivary amylase in a bowl
4. Using the measuring spoons, put varying amounts of salivary amylase into the 5
glass jars (½ teaspoon, 1 teaspoon, 2 teaspoons, 3 teaspoons). Make sure to put no
amylase in one of the jars to ensure comparison.
5. Label the jars and wait for around two minutes for the amylase to break down the
starch into sugar
6. Using a dropper, add 2-3 drops of iodine solution to each of the jars
7. Use a timer and keep track of the time taken for the reaction to occur in each of
the jars
8. Note down your observations.
★ Pictorial Representation:
Picture 1: All the jars together (arranged in ascending order i.e. from no amylase to 3 teaspoons
of amylase)
Picture 2: An aerial view of all the jars together (arranged in ascending order)
➔ NO AMYLASE
Picture 3: Frontal view of the jar containing no amylase
Picture 4: Aerial view of the jar containing no amylase. (We can see that iodine has detected
the starch by turning almost a pure black)
➔ ½ TEASPOON OF AMYLASE
Picture 5: Frontal view of the jar containing ½ a teaspoon of amylase
Picture 6: Aerial view of the jar containing ½ teaspoon of amylase. (We can see that the iodine
is detecting a good amount of starch by turning a blue-black colour.)
➔ 1 TEASPOON OF AMYLASE
Picture 7: Frontal view of the jar containing 1 teaspoon of amylase
Picture 8: Aerial view of the jar containing 1 teaspoon of amylase (We can see that as the
amylase breaks down a lot of the starch, iodine is only able to detect a little by turning an
extremely faint indigo in colour)
➔ 2 TEASPOONS OF AMYLASE
Picture 9: Frontal view of the jar containing 2 teaspoons of amylase
Picture 10: Aerial view of the jar containing 2 teaspoons of amylase (We can see how there is
very little starch for the iodine solution to detect due to the breakdown of starch to sugars and
hence the remaining starch turns a very faint blue)
➔ 3 TEASPOONS OF AMYLASE
Picture 11: Frontal view of the jar containing 3 teaspoons of amylase
Picture 12: Aerial view of the jar containing 3 teaspoons of salivary amylase (We can observe a
complete breakdown of the starch in this jar and hence, the iodine solution remains brown and
exhibits no change)
★ Data collection
AMOUNT OF AMYLASE COLOUR TIME TAKEN FOR REACTION
No Amylase Black Continuously reacting throughout

the experiment
½ Teaspoon of Amylase Blue-Black 10 minutes and 15 seconds
1 Teaspoon of Amylase Indigo-ish Blue 4 minutes, 23 seconds
2 Teaspoons of Amylase Extremely faint blue (Hints of Brown) 3 minutes, 22 seconds

3 Teaspoons of Amylase Brown 2 minutes, 32 seconds
★ Inference:
→ Based on the observations, it can be inferred that the jar with the maximum amylase
concentration (3 teaspoons of amylase) completely broke down the starch into simple sugars in
the shortest amount of time. This is evident as the iodine did not change colour, indicating the
absence of starch to detect.
Conversely, as the amount of amylase decreased, the iodine appeared to darken, and the rate of
reaction to break down complex carbohydrates in the starch into simple sugars slowed down.
This suggests an inverse relationship between the amount of amylase and the rate of reaction,
indicating that the rate of breakdown of complex carbohydrates is dependent on the
concentration of amylase present.
Name: Samaira Khatri

Section: XI-A
Date of Experiment: 17th of June, 2023

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BIOLOGY PROJECT WORK

Testing the Effectiveness of Salivary Amylase

Picture 5: Frontal view of the jar containing ½ a teaspoon of amylase

AMOUNT OF AMYLASE COLOUR TIME TAKEN FOR REACTION

No Amylase Black Continuously reacting throughout

½ Teaspoon of Amylase Blue-Black 10 minutes and 15 seconds

1 Teaspoon of Amylase Indigo-ish Blue 4 minutes, 23 seconds

2 Teaspoons of Amylase Extremely faint blue (Hints of Brown) 3 minutes, 22 seconds

Name: Samaira Khatri

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