Enzyme amylases

Enzymes act as catalysts to increase the rates of chemical reactions, but they do not cause a reaction to occur that would not proceed spontaneously without the enzyme. Digestive enzymes help break down foods so their nutrients can be absorbed effectively through the gut and utilized by the body, such as for energy and to build and repair the body. During the sprouting process, enzymes are increased, helping to make seeds, nuts, legumes and grains much easier to digest.

Human saliva and pancreatic secretion contain a large amount of α-amylase for starch digestion. The specificity of the bond attacked by alpha-amylases depends on the sources of the enzymes. Salivary amylase initiates carbohydrate digestion in the mouth and pancreatic amylase is the main enzyme for luminal digestion of carbohydrate in the small intestine.

α-amylase (1,4-α-D-glucan-glucanohydrolase,) is the primary digestive enzyme acting on starch or glycogen and is present in plants, animals, bacteria and fungi.

Starch degrading amylolytic enzymes are most important in the biotechnology industries. Their uses range from textiles, beer, liquor, bakery, infant feeding cereals, starch liquefaction-saccharification, animal feed industries to chemical and pharmaceutical uses.

Amylases can be obtained from several sources such as plant, animal, and microbes. The microbial source of amylase is preferred to other sources because of its plasticity and vast availability. The species Aspergillus and Rhizopus are highly important among the filamentous fungus for the production of amylases.
Enzyme amylases