During a laboratory experiment, a student accidentally boils a sample of salivary amylase before adding it to a starch solution. Which of the following best explains the most likely outcome of this experiment?

Step-by-step solution

Salivary amylase is a proteinaceous enzyme responsible for the catalytic breakdown of starch into maltose. Enzymes are highly sensitive to temperature changes and function optimally within a specific temperature range. Boiling the enzyme exposes it to temperatures far above its optimum. The high thermal energy disrupts the weak interactions, such as hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interactions, that maintain the enzyme's three-dimensional tertiary structure. This leads to the denaturation of the enzyme, causing it t