Distribution of Digestive Enzymes in Cockroaches

 

Tested Studies in Laboratory Teaching, 2003, Volume 24

Abstract

The digestive tract of a cockroach is a tube modified into subdivisions, which serve specialized digestive functions: food reception, conduction and storage, internal digestion, absorption, conduction, and formation of feces. The three divisions of the cockroach digestive tract are the foregut, midgut, and the hindgut. The enzyme reaction in the digestive tract can be determined either by determining the amount of substrates (starch and proteins) in an enzyme-reaction mixture, or measuring the presence of product present. Some of the factors that may influence the enzymatic process are pH, temperature, time, and concentration of substrate and enzyme. In this experiment, all variables are held constant except the concentration of enzymes (amylase and protease) and pH of substrates. Thus, the presence and the concentration of enzymes such as amylase and proteolytic enzymes can be studied in the gut of cockroaches.

Keywords:  cockroach, enzyme, digestive systems, digestion

Louisiana State University (2002)