Did you know that our saliva contains something called enzymes? And did you know that without these enzymes digestion wouldn't be able to occur? So what are these enzymes anyway, and how do we use them in digestion?

Enzymes are proteins. They are biological catalysts that speed up a chemical reaction without being used up in the reaction. Enzymes have a specific shape that allows molecules to fit in - called the active site. It's here that large insoluble food substances are broken into smaller soluble molecules. Smaller molecules are easily absorbed by the blood. These smaller molecules might be used for different processes, for example, glucose can be used for respiration. Some smaller molecules will be used to build and make new products. Proteins can be broken down into peptides which are short chains of amino acids, and then further broken down into just amino acids. These amino acids can be used to build new proteins needed for growth and repair.

 

 

The lock and key theory 

The shape of the active site of an enzyme matches the shape of the food molecule (substrate), a bit like a key is specific to the lock it opens -  a substrate will only match a specific enzyme. This is called the lock and key theory. 

 

 

Different types of food are broken down by different enzymes.  Digestive enzymes are classified by the type of food that they affect. There are three main types:

carbohydrase – breaks carbohydrate into smaller sugars

protease – breaks protein into amino acids

lipase – breaks fat into fatty acids and glycerol

 

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are chains of identical sugar molecules. The digestive enzyme called carbohydrase breaks the chemical bonds between the sugar molecules in each carbohydrate chain. An example is amylase. Amylase is found in saliva and pancreatic juices. Amylase breaks starch down into small sugar molecules called maltose. 

 

 

 

Proteins 

Proteins are made up of amino acids. There are over 20 different types of amino acids. Proteins are digested by digestive enzymes called proteases. These enzymes break proteins into smaller amino acids. They are found in the stomach, pancreas and small intestine.

 

 

 

Fats

Fats are digested in two stages:

Firstly, bile (made by the liver) allows the fat to ‘mix’ with water by breaking it into smaller droplets (emulsion). 

Secondly, the digestive enzyme lipase breaks each fat molecule into the smaller glycerol and fatty acid molecules. These can now be absorbed by the blood and can be used by the body for energy storage, and for building cell structures, such as cell membranes. Lipases are found in the pancreas and small intestine.

 

 

 

In the following activity, you will explain the importance of enzymes in the digestive system.