What is alpha amylase?
Alfa amylase is a protein involved in food digestion. This type of digestive enzyme cleaves large food molecules into smaller pieces that can be taken in the intestines and metabolize. In this case, the molecules of long glucose chains are known as starch. There are two types of this protein in humans, one in the pancreas and one in saliva, also known as ptyalin.
A significant amount of calories consumed by people is occupied in the form of carbohydrates. One of the very common form of carbohydrates is the insoluble polysaccharide starch that is found in foods such as potatoes, corn and rice. It consists of a large number of sugars in a long chain. Sugar in starch is glucose. The starch structure is long, the linear backbone of the glucose molecules with chains of glucose branching. In this case, the reaction of cleavage is to produce large, soluble fragments of starch. They continue to be cleaved by alpha amylase until they are divided into a unit of two glucose molecules known as maltose. Maltosis is divided into gluk in the intestineOut that the cells can choose. Once inside the cells, glucose is known as blood sugar.
For this type of digestion, it is first necessary to produce saliva. This is initiated by chewing and alpha amylase is one of its components. The enzyme does not stay long in the mouth. He swallows quickly with a lot of food known as Bolus.
Ptyalin continues to degrade starch in Bolus, even after he has reached the stomach. Finally, the enzyme itself is degraded by the acid conditions of the stomach. This alpha amylase degrades only a small percentage of starch in the human diet. The pancreatic form degrades the majority of the Starch.
pancreatic alpha amylase cleaves the bonds of amylosis. This compound is a linear form of starch that lacks side branches. Its cleavage can result in several different products, including maltose and triple glucose units known as maltotriosis.
levels of alpha amylase in the bloodis sometimes measured for the diagnosis of the disease. For example, the mumps increase the level of ptyalin because the glands that produce saliva are lit. Increasing pancreatic alpha amylase is also a marker of pancreatitis.
other organisms also produce alpha amylase. Mushrooms secrete a large amount. Plants produce an enzyme for the use of starch stored in seeds. Some bacteria also produce this protein.