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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).
Foods that contain large amounts of starch but little sugar, such as rice and potatoes, may acquire a slightly sweet taste as they are chewed because amylase degrades some of their starch into sugar. The pancreas and salivary gland make amylase ( alpha amylase ) to hydrolyse dietary starch into disaccharides and trisaccharides which are ...
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]
There's also metabolic enzymes, which belong to the transferases category and help convert food into energy; or repair enzymes, that help fix damaged or mutated DNA.
As a result, saliva allows some digestion to occur before the food reaches the stomach. [30] Taste: [31] Saliva acts as a solvent in which solid particles can dissolve and enter the taste buds through oral mucosa located on the tongue. These taste buds are found within foliate and circumvallate papillae, where minor salivary glands secrete ...
Function: Amylase is an enzyme that is responsible for the breaking of the bonds in starches, polysaccharides, and complex carbohydrates to be turned into simple sugars that will be easier to absorb. Clinical Significance: Amylase also has medical history in the use of Pancreatic Enzyme Replacement Therapy (PERT). One of the components is ...
Also of importance is the presence in saliva of the digestive enzymes amylase and lipase. Amylase starts to work on the starch in carbohydrates, breaking it down into the simple sugars of maltose and dextrose that can be further broken down in the small intestine. Saliva in the mouth can account for 30% of this initial starch digestion.
Lingual lipase is a member of a family of digestive enzymes called triacylglycerol lipases, EC 3.1.1.3, that use the catalytic triad of aspartate, histidine, and serine to hydrolyze medium and long-chain triglycerides into partial glycerides and free fatty acids. The enzyme, released into the mouth along with the saliva, catalyzes the first ...