... in a manner they would not be able to without the surface of the enzyme present. Enzymes achieve this by lowering the amount of activation energy needed for anabolic reactions, allowing these reactions to occur as catabolic reactions would. Enzymes are generally large proteins made up of several hundred amino acids, and often contain a non-proteinaceous group called the prosthetic group that is important in the actual catalysis. In an enzyme-catalyzed reaction, the substance to be acted upon, or substrate, binds to the active site of the enzyme. The enzyme and substrate are held together in an enzyme-substrate complex by hydrophobic bonds, hydrogen bonds, and ionic bonds (Nichols and Cholewiak, 1991). 2 Enzymes are not only important because they keep the metabolic pathways free of congestion but they are also key in digestion. Enzymes are needed to perform an infinite number of tasks within the human cellular system. Without enzymes the body could not possibly function properly, let alone sustain life. Enzyme productivity ...

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