wedge said:
I appreciate the fact the mashout reduves teh viscousity of the runoff, but i have never understood the reasoning behind stopping the enzymic activities. Can anyone clear this up for me?
Howdy Wedge,
I will have a go. ALL enzymes are proteins. All proteins are composed of a sequence of amino acids.
The amino acid composition of a protein determines it shape, structure, function and stability. Each enzyme has an unique amino acid sequence. Generally, each enzyme is only able to perform ONE specific fuction.
Enzymes also have optimal temperatures at which they work the best. They also have temperatures at which they are inactivated.
In biological systems there are many, many different enzymes. Some work at optimal temps of 15 degree C and are inactivated at slightly higher temps. Others can still operate at temperatures in excess of 90 degree C. Amylases (found in malted barley) operate at their best in the 60-70 degree C range although they work well at lower temps too albeit at a slower rate (just takes longer). Generally, If you heat amylases beyond about 75 degree C the structure (amino acid bonding) of the enzyme begins to break down. This is known as denaturing. Denaturing destroys the activity of an enzyme. Denaturation by heat is irreversible.
hope this has helped
Darren