Why is maintaining a specific pH crucial for digestive enzymes in the human stomach?
To ensure the correct shape and activity of enzymes like pepsin
Enzymes are proteins whose three-dimensional shape determines their ability to bind to a substrate at the active site.
Each enzyme works best within a narrow pH range; pepsin, for instance, is most active in the highly acidic environment of the stomach, around pH 1.5 to 2.
A change in pH away from this optimum can alter the enzyme's shape, reducing or destroying its activity.
Hence, a specific pH is maintained in the stomach to keep enzymes like pepsin in their correct shape and fully active.
Similar Questions
Which part of the human brain controls thinking and learning abilities of a person?
Which type of blood vessel is best suited for rapid exchange of gases and nutrients with body tissues?
Which part of the human eye controls the amount of light entering the eye?
Why is the small intestine able to fit into a compact space within the human body?
Why does the sight of or thought of delicious food make our mouths "water"?
Which acid does our stomach produce and what is its pH?
Which defect occurs when the eye lens loses its ability to focus on near objects due to decreased flexibility?
In human beings, the respiratory pigment that carries oxygen is ______.
Which gas is essential for aerobic respiration in animals?
Match 'Column A' with 'Column B' in context of the muscular layers in blood vessels.
Column A Column B (a) Thick tunica media (i) Vein (b) Smallest vessel diameter (ii) Artery (c) Large lumen (iii) Capillary (d) Endothelium (iv) All blood vessels
Important Questions from Human body
A resting person, usually has a pulse rate between ______ and ______ beats per minute
In humans, neck and head are joined by which joint ?
The human skeleton is composed of around ______ bones at birth.
At which period of life, body undergoes changes leading to reproductive maturity?
Milk is no longer called a balanced diet due to the lack of which one of the following?
