What are Enzymes ?

Enzyme are biological catalyst that speeds up the rate of the reaction without being used up. Enzymes speeds up the rate of chemical reaction by providing an alternative route to the reaction which lowering the activation energy. Since the activation energy of the enzyme mediated reaction decreases, there are more molecules that possess energy equal to greater than the activation energy resulting in the successful collision and increasing the rate of the reaction. Enzymes are protein in nature and therefore are sensitive to temperature and pH. With increase in pH and temperature beyond the optimum, enzymes tends to denature lowering the rate of the reaction.