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What Does Amylase Digest?

Jul 30, 2011 | By Matthew Larson

Entropy is the concept that nature tends to move from order to greater disorder over time, or from organization to randomness and chaos. For instance, you would never expect the chocolate in your hot cocoa to concentrate itself into a powdered form and collect on your spoon as you stirred the solution. An example of how biological organisms manipulate the force of entropy is through the use of enzymes, or protein molecules that speed up chemical reactions. Amylase is an enzyme that acts on starch molecules.

Starch Digestion

Also known as amylum, starch is a complex polysaccharide, meaning it is composed of multiple sugar molecules bound in a tree-like network. The extreme complexity of branching in these molecules requires the catalytic action of two separate glands, each producing a unique form of enzyme to perform the sequential steps in digestion.

Salivary Amylase

The first step of starch digestion is carried out by salivary amylase. Your salivary glands, located in your jaw and cheeks, produce this enzyme, which breaks down starch into maltose, a simpler carbohydrate. When you eat a saltine cracker, you can actually observe this chemical reaction occurring with your sense of taste; as you chew on the cracker, your salivary glands are stimulated to release salivary amylase, which converts the complex starch molecules into shorter, sweeter, maltose molecules.

Pancreatic Amylase

Your intestine is lined with microscopic glucose transporter proteins; these cellular structures are able to move ions and glucose molecules from the inner lumen of the intestine into your bloodstream. The final step in producing these glucose molecules from starch occurs in a region of the intestine known as the duodenum. Using pancreatic amylase, which your pancreas produces and secretes, the duodenum completes the final phase of starch digestion by rapidly converting maltose into glucose. Your body's metabolism is entirely dependent on maintaining a constant source of this form of carbohydrate; the amylase enzymes located throughout your gastrointestinal tract ensure that complex starch molecules are completely broken down to yield the maximum amount of glucose.

Entropy and Digestion

A living thing does not go against the laws of entropy, despite its unique ability to build protein structures, organize fat molecules, and store other forms of energy with increasing order. The processes of digestion carried out by amylase enzymes increase the overall disorder of the molecules in the system; the magnificence of life is its ability to direct when and where to release the energy of chemical bonds, rather than allowing the process to proceed randomly and chaotically.

References

Article reviewed by Mia Paul Last updated on: Jul 30, 2011

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