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Amylase

Introduction

Amylase is categorized in a class of enzymes known as hydrolases. Hydrolases are enzymes which use water to cleave chemical bonds, usually dividing a large molecule into two smaller molecules. Examples of common hydrolases include esterases, proteases, glycosidases, nucleosidases, and lipases. Hydrolases carry out important degradative reactions in the body. During digestion, lipases hydrolyze lipids and proteases convert protein to amino acids. Hydrolases cleave large molecules into fragments used for synthesis , the excretion of waste materials, or as sources of carbon for the production of energy. Amylase is an enzyme that catalyses the breakdown of starch into sugars. Amylase is present in human saliva, where it begins the chemical process of digestion. Food that contains much starch but little sugar, such as rice and potato, taste slightly sweet as they are chewed because amylase turns some of their starch into sugar in the mouth. The pancreas also makes amylase (alpha amylase) to hydrolyse dietary starch into disaccharides and trisaccharides which are converted by other enzymes to glucose to supply the body with energy. Plants and some bacteria also produce amylase. As diastase, amylase was the first enzyme to be discovered and isolated.

Structure

Mechanism of Action

Hydrolysis of sugar using Amylase

Medical Implications or Possible Applications