An amylase is an enzyme that catalyses the hydrolysis of starch into sugars. Amylase is present in the saliva of humans and some other mammals, where it begins the chemical process of digestion. Foods that contain large amounts of starch but little sugar, such as rice and potatoes, may acquire a slightly sweet taste as they are chewed because amylase degrades some of their starch into sugar. The pancreas and salivary gland make 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. Specific amylase proteins are designated by different Greek letters. All amylases are glycoside hydrolases and act on α-1,4-glycosidic bonds.
Cellulase is any of several enzymes produced chiefly by fungi, bacteria, and protozoans that catalyze cellulolysis, the decomposition of cellulose and of some related polysaccharides:
Maltase is one type of alpha-glucosidase enzymes located in the brush border of the small intestine. This enzyme catalyzes the hydrolysis of disaccharide maltose into two simple sugars of glucose. Maltase is found in plants, bacteria, yeast, humans, and other vertebrates. It is thought to be synthesized by cells of the mucous membrane lining the intestinal wall.
Acarbose (INN) is an anti-diabetic drug used to treat diabetes mellitus type 2 and, in some countries, prediabetes. It is a generic sold in Europe and China as Glucobay, in North America as Precose, and in Canada as Prandase. It is cheap and popular in China, but not in the U.S. One physician explains that use in the U.S. is limited because it is not potent enough to justify the side effects of diarrhea and flatulence. However, a large study concluded in 2013 that "acarbose is effective, safe and well tolerated in a large cohort of Asian patients with type 2 diabetes." A possible explanation for the differing opinions is an observation that acarbose is significantly more effective in patients eating a relatively high carbohydrate Eastern diet.
Cycloamyloses are cyclic α-1,4 linked glucans comprising dozens or hundreds of glucose units. Chemically they are similar to the much smaller cyclodextrins, which are typically composed of 6, 7 or 8 glucose units.
1,4-alpha-glucan-branching enzyme, also known as brancher enzyme or glycogen-branching enzyme is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the GBE1 gene.
β-Amylase is an enzyme with the systematic name 4-α-D-glucan maltohydrolase. It catalyses the following reaction:
Alpha-glucosidase inhibitors (AGIs) are oral anti-diabetic drugs used for diabetes mellitus type 2 that work by preventing the digestion of carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are normally converted into simple sugars (monosaccharides) by alpha-glucosidase enzymes present on cells lining the intestine, enabling monosaccharides to be absorbed through the intestine. Hence, alpha-glucosidase inhibitors reduce the impact of dietary carbohydrates on blood sugar.
Geobacillus stearothermophilus is a rod-shaped, Gram-positive bacterium and a member of the phylum Bacillota. The bacterium is a thermophile and is widely distributed in soil, hot springs, ocean sediment, and is a cause of spoilage in food products. It will grow within a temperature range of 30 to 75 °C. Some strains are capable of oxidizing carbon monoxide aerobically. It is commonly used as a challenge organism for sterilization validation studies and periodic check of sterilization cycles. The biological indicator contains spores of the organism on filter paper inside a vial. After sterilizing, the cap is closed, an ampule of growth medium inside of the vial is crushed and the whole vial is incubated. A color and/or turbidity change indicates the results of the sterilization process; no change indicates that the sterilization conditions were achieved, otherwise the growth of the spores indicates that the sterilization process has not been met. Recently a fluorescent-tagged strain, Rapid Readout(tm), is being used for verifying sterilization, since the visible blue fluorescence appears in about one-tenth the time needed for pH-indicator color change, and an inexpensive light sensor can detect the growing colonies.
α-Amylase is an enzyme that hydrolyses α bonds of large, α-linked polysaccharides, such as starch and glycogen, yielding shorter chains thereof, dextrins, and maltose:
Glucan 1,4-α-glucosidase is an enzyme located on the brush border of the small intestine with systematic name 4-α-D-glucan glucohydrolase. It catalyses the following chemical reaction
Azobenzene reductase also known as azoreductase (EC 1.7.1.6) is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction:
In enzymology, a cyclomaltodextrin glucanotransferase is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction of cyclizing part of a 1,4-alpha-D-glucan molecule through the formation of a 1,4-alpha-D-glucosidic bond. They are bacterial enzymes belonging to the same family of the α-amylase specifically known as glycosyl-hydrolase family 13. This peculiar enzyme is capable of catalyzing more than one reaction with the most important being the synthesis of non-reducing cyclic dextrins known as cyclodextrins starting from starch, amylose, and other polysaccharides.
In enzymology, an oligosaccharide 4-alpha-D-glucosyltransferase is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction in which the non-reducing terminal alpha-D-glucose residue is transferred from a 1,4-alpha-D-glucan to the 4-position of an alpha-D-glucan. This enzyme is useful in hydrolyzing oligosaccharides.
α-Glucans (alpha-glucans) are polysaccharides of D-glucose monomers linked with glycosidic bonds of the alpha form. α-Glucans use cofactors in a cofactor site in order to activate a glucan phosphorylase enzyme. This enzyme causes a reaction that transfers a glucosyl portion between orthophosphate and α-I,4-glucan. The position of the cofactors to the active sites on the enzyme are critical to the overall reaction rate thus, any alteration to the cofactor site leads to the disruption of the glucan binding site.
Glucanases are enzymes that break down large polysaccharides via hydrolysis. The product of the hydrolysis reaction is called a glucan, a linear polysaccharide made of up to 1200 glucose monomers, held together with glycosidic bonds. Glucans are abundant in the endosperm cell walls of cereals such as barley, rye, sorghum, rice, and wheat. Glucanases are also referred to as lichenases, hydrolases, glycosidases, glycosyl hydrolases, and/or laminarinases. Many types of glucanases share similar amino acid sequences but vastly different substrates. Of the known endo-glucanases, 1,3-1,4-β-glucanase is considered the most active.
Glucan 1,4-α-maltotetraohydrolase is an enzyme with systematic name 4-α-D-glucan maltotetraohydrolase. It catalyses the hydrolysis of (1→4)-α-D-glucosidic linkages in amylaceous polysaccharides, to remove successive maltotetraose residues from the non-reducing chain ends
Glucan 1,4-α-maltohexaosidase is an enzyme with systematic name 4-α-D-glucan maltohexaohydrolase. It catalyses the hydrolysis of (1→4)-α-D-glucosidic linkages in amylaceous polysaccharides, to remove successive maltohexaose residues from the non-reducing chain ends
Glucan 1,4-α-maltotriohydrolase is an enzyme with systematic name 4-α-D-glucan maltotriohydrolase. It catalyses the hydrolysis of (1→4)-α-D-glucosidic linkages in amylaceous polysaccharides, to remove successive maltotriose residues from the non-reducing chain ends.
Neopullulanase is an enzyme of the alpha-amylase family with systematic name pullulan 4-D-glucanohydrolase (panose-forming). This enzyme principally catalyses the following chemical reaction by cleaving pullulan's alpha-1,4-glucosidic bonds:
