Taste of Science: Enzymes

I recently performed an experiment demonstrating enzymes and how they break things down. Here are the steps I followed:
1 fresh pineapple
Blender
Three small bowls
Small box of jell-o, any flavor
Pot 
Stove
Refrigerator
Two tablespoon measurers

*objection-to see how easily enzyme function can be destroyed 

You'll cut the skin off the pineapple and then cut it into cubes. One cup of pineapple needs to be blended until its a thick pulpy mixture. Take one Tablespoon of the pineapple and put in a bowl(keep that tablespoon with that bowl) . Label this bowl 'room temperature pineapple'  I used duck tape for that. Now follow the directions on the jell-o packet and prepare as listed. When that's done pour one - third of it into each bowl. Good. Now using your other tablespoon measurer take some more pineapple and put it in a pot on a stove and heat for five minutes on high. If it starts to boil that's okay,just keep stirring. I set a timer for five minutes to help keep track of time. 
When that's done heating put the pineapple(keeping the tablespoon for that pineapple with it) and put it in the jell-o. Mix it together(Label this one heated pineapple) and when finished I put plastic wrap over top to keep debri out and put it in the fridge. Jell-o takes 2-3 hours to set so you'll have time to kill. There should be one bowl that has no pineapple and only jell-o, that's good. Take the remaining jell-o and put into a bowl and in the fridge to set with the other three bowls. 

*if you do this experiment don't read on until you've checked for yourself. If not than please read on! 

So what did we see when we checked the jell-o? The bowl with plain jell-o and no pineapple set like normal. So did the bowl with the heated pineapple. But! The jell-o with the room temperature pineapple didn't set. Why?! If it did set your pineapple wasn't fresh. 
There is an enzyme in pineapple that prevents jell-o from setting. When we heated the jell-o acted as a catalyst and destroyed the enzymes, which is the jell-o set like normal. Do you see how fragile enzymes are? They are so fragile most food processing destroys them. Canned or frozen pineapple wouldn't work because their enzymes wouldn't be in existance. This is why the pineapple had to be fresh. Pineapple also contains enzymes that break down tissues in your teeth which is why your gums may bleed when you eat pineapple. Enzymes are very fragile and break down soon after being formed,the pineapple used still had some enzymes that were destroyed when put in the blender. Because enzymes break down so easily and quickly our body is constantly making more. That's why it's very important to eat protein(meat,which is why we have canine teeth. We weren't meant to be vegan or vegetarian either). The protein we get gets broken down into constituent amino acids,and those acids are sent to the cells in your body so that they can produce the enzymes our bodies need. 

You can take the rest of that pineapple and eat it or freeze it our make pineapple upside down cake with it. I froze mine for smoothies and the plain jell-o and jell-o with the set pineapple are very edible and very tasty. 

There's your taste of science. I hope you enjoyed this bite of education and do this experiment, it's fun!