Diastase
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It is an amylolytic enzymes present in the saliva (salivary diastase or ptyalin and pancreatic diastase or amylopsin) found in the digestive tract of animals and also in malt extract. Diastase hydrolyses starch, glycogen and dextrin to form in all three instances glucose, maltose, and the limit-dextrin.
DIASTASE
Synonym
Amylase.
Biological Source
It is an amylolytic enzymes present in the saliva (salivary diastase
or ptyalin and pancreatic diastase or amylopsin) found in the digestive tract
of animals and also in malt extract. Diastase hydrolyses starch, glycogen and
dextrin to form in all three instances glucose, maltose, and the limit-dextrin.
Salivary amylase is known as ptyalin; although humans have this enzyme in their
saliva, some mammals, such as horses, dogs, and cats, do not. Ptyalin begins
polysaccharide digestion in the mouth; the process is completed in the small
intestine by the pancreatic amylase, sometimes called amylopsin. The amylase of
malt digests barley starch to the disaccharides that are attacked by yeast in
the fermentation process.
Description
Uses
It is used as a digestant, used in the production of
predigested starchy foods and also for the conversion of starch to fermentable
sugars in fermentation.
