Introduction
The human system is made up of several body organs ranging from the mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestines, large intestines, liver, kidney, pancreas, rectum to the anus. These organs enable humans to convert food into nutrients necessary for growth and good health in a process known as digestion (Mandel, & Breslin, 2012) . Food consumed by the human can get digested at any of the given organs above. Different foods contain different nutrients which make them be absorbed in various organs. For instance, foods that contain starch are digested in the mouth with the help of an enzyme known as amylase, which is found in saliva.
Enzymes are catalysts, a term used for describing chemicals that speed up a reaction such as digestion in this case. An enzyme known as amylase or salivary amylase is responsible for speeding up the absorption of Starch into the human body; in other words - digestion of Starch, which is a reaction. Enzyme amylase occurs naturally in human saliva, which is secreted from the salivary glands found in the mouth (Breslin, et al., 2016) . The enzyme converts the starch present in food into a more straightforward chemical form of a sugar known as maltose. The maltose can then go down the digestive tract to continue being broken down into simpler forms that can easily get absorbed by the human body.
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Salivary amylase is essential because it initiates the digestion of starch, which is necessary for providing the human body with energy. By starting the absorption of Starch in the mouth, amylase simplifies the work of the pancreas, which also secrets amylase to continue digesting the simplified sugar coming down the digestive tract from the mouth (Breslin, et al., 2016) . The pancreas then facilitates the further breakdown of the sugar until it gets to simpler forms that can be absorbed: these forms are then responsible for providing nutrients to the body in forms of energy that facilitates good health.
Following the functionality of salivary amylase, biologists can test for its effectiveness in humans by first testing for the presence of Starch using solutions that mimic the impact of amylase on food substances that contain Starch. Testing for enzymes like starch is important because it enables scientists to study response of the human body to different food, which helps in studying diseases (Breslin, et al., 2016) . As in the experiment conducted, the objective was to investigate how amylase affects the reaction between iodine and Starch. Consequently, the formulated hypotheses were as follows. First, in a test, where there will be no amylase, iodine and Starch would react and display a blue-black color. Secondly, when saliva is introduced to the test and iodine added immediately, the result should remain the same as in the first test because amylase will not be able to digest Starch within a short time. Lastly, when iodine is introduced to the test, say 30 minutes after the saliva was added, it will not react to give a blue-black color because the Starch will have already been digested into sugars.
Materials
Based on the objective and hypotheses for the tests, the following materials are used for this kind of a laboratory experiment. Three test tubes will be used to contain the substances for each of the tests. A dropper will be required for introducing other solutions like saliva and iodine into the test tubes. Saliva, Starch, and iodine will be needed as the vital substances for facilitating the tests. A clock like a stopwatch (Breslin, et al., 2016) will be used to time the 30 minutes for introducing iodine in a solution that already has Starch and saliva in the third test tube. Lastly, a pen will be used to record the different amounts and results of each test tube.
Method
The materials to be used for the experiment were collected. The test tube to be used was marked with labels of the contents that they contained. For example, the test tube with benedict had to be labeled benedict to erase room for confusion. They are marked with a marker pen, which is easy to read and cannot be deleted. 2ml of Starch added to each of the six test tubes. After Starch is added, water and three drops of benedict are added to test tube one, and the reaction taking place is observed and recorded. In the second test tube, 1 ml of saliva is applied, followed by three drops of a solution of benedict. The reaction taking place is observed keenly and recorded. 1 ml saliva is also added to the third test tube. Three drops of benedict solution are applied to the third test tube. The reaction is observed and recorded. Boiled amylase is added to the fourth tube, and three drops of benedict solution, and results are recorded. In the fifth test tube, amylase starch is mixed with three benedict solution. The final test tube is cooled to zero degrees, and then the result is recorded. All of the test tubes are kept at 37 degrees Celsius except h sixth test tube.
Results
| Table No | 1A | 2A | 3A | 4A | 5A | 6A |
| Additives | Amylase water | Starch, water | Maltose, water | Amylase, boiled amylase for 4 minutes | Amylase, starch | Amylase, starch |
Incubation condition In degree Celsius | 37 | 37 | 37 | 37 | 37 | 0 |
| Iodine test | 1 Drop | 1 Drop | 1 Drop | 1 Drop | 1 Drop | 1 Drop |
Results (+), (-) | -ve | -ve | +ve | -ve | -ve | -ve |
| Benedicts test | 3 drops | 3 drops | 3 drops | 3 drops | 3 drops | 3 drops |
| Color | Black | Black | Clear gold | Black | Clear gold | black |
Discussion/Conclusion
The experiment went on properly according to how it was planned from the beginning to the end. The results collected proved the hypothesis mentioned at the beginning to be correct. The results obtained from the tube one were negative. Due to lack of the reaction taking place, they retained the color of benedict. In tube 1, amylase did not react with what which is the same in tube two, where the Starch could not react with water. In the tube, there was a presence in reducing sugar (Mandel, & Breslin, 2012) . Maltose is a reducing sugar; that's why it recorded positive data. In tube four, the results were negative because amylase was boiled for four minutes. When the cells for the amylase were boiled, they were paralyzed and killed. In test-tube five, the results were positive. The reaction between starch and saliva amylase produces a reducing sugar such as maltose. In the last tube, the results were negative due to the low temperature. Amylase cells worked better at room temperature and not too low and not too high. Zero degrees Celsius, the amylase cells were frozen; therefore, they could not react with the Starch. What I could have done to improve the performance of the experiment is to conduct the test with only iodine. I learned that the rate of reaction is reduced in too low in too high temperatures. In conclusion, the amylase reacts with starch well at room temperature to produce a reducing sugar.
The disease which is associated with this topic is Hyperamylasemia. Hyperamylasemia is caused when there is excess amylase in the bloodstream. When an individual takes carbohydrates and fats, the digestion starts taking place in the mouth (Breslin et al., 2016) . Gastric secretion starts to break the fats into lipids. The level of blood amylase has to balance with the level of lipase in the body. If there is an imbalance, their individual will suffer from Hyperamylasemia. The Starch should react with the amylase in the mouth to produce reducing sugar agents such as sucrose, lipase, and maltose, which is safe for the body.
References
Des Gachons, C. P., & Breslin, P. A. (2016). Salivary amylase: digestion and metabolic syndrome. Current diabetes reports , 16 (10), 102.
Mandel, A. L., & Breslin, P. A. (2012). High endogenous salivary amylase activity is associated with improved glycemic homeostasis following starch ingestion in adults. The Journal of nutrition , 142 (5), 853-858.
