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Saliva on a baby's lips. Saliva (commonly referred to as spit or drool) is an extracellular fluid produced and secreted by salivary glands in the mouth.In humans, saliva is around 99% water, plus electrolytes, mucus, white blood cells, epithelial cells (from which DNA can be extracted), enzymes (such as lipase and amylase), and antimicrobial agents (such as secretory IgA, and lysozymes).
The enzyme, released into the mouth along with the saliva, catalyzes the first reaction in the digestion of dietary lipid, with diglycerides being the primary reaction product. [1] However, due to the unique characteristics of lingual lipase, including a pH optimum 4.5–5.4 and its ability to catalyze reactions without bile salts , the ...
In serous secretions, the main type of protein secreted is alpha-amylase, an enzyme that breaks down starch into maltose and glucose, [2] whereas in mucous secretions, the main protein secreted is mucin, which acts as a lubricant. [1] In humans, 1200 to 1500 ml of saliva are produced every day. [3]
Though having different sequences from human enzymes, the enzymes in plant and animal foods "get broken down into building blocks called amino acids during our digestion of those foods," Holden ...
In animals, it is a major digestive enzyme, and its optimum pH is 6.7–7.0. [3] In human physiology, both the salivary and pancreatic amylases are α-amylases. The α-amylase form is also found in plants, fungi (ascomycetes and basidiomycetes) and bacteria .
α-Amylase is an enzyme (EC 3.2.1.1; systematic name 4-α-D-glucan glucanohydrolase) that hydrolyses α bonds of large, α-linked polysaccharides, such as starch and glycogen, yielding shorter chains thereof, dextrins, and maltose, through the following biochemical process: [2]
This protein is abundantly found in salivary glands and saliva and protein may play a role in the reversible hydratation of carbon dioxide, though its function in saliva is unknown. [ 6 ] It has been suggested that CA VI participates in the maintenance of appropriate pH homeostasis on tooth surfaces as well as in the mucosa of the ...
In the laboratory the source of the hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2) usually is the reaction of glucose with oxygen in the presence of the enzyme glucose oxidase (EC 1.1.3.4) that also takes place in saliva. Glucose, in turn, can be formed from starch in the presence of the saliva enzyme amyloglucosidase (EC 3.2.1.3).