BACKGROUND & AIM Alpha-amylase in both blood and saliva has been used as a diagnostic parameter. While studies examining alpha-amylase activity in saliva have shown that it is sensitive to physiological and psychological challenge of the adrenergic system, no challenge studies have attempted to elucidate the role of the adrenergic system in alpha-amylase activity in blood. We set out to examine...

7 Thickness perception of starch-thickened products during eating has been linked to starch viscosity 8 and salivary amylase activity. Calcium is an essential cofactor for -amylase and there is anecdotal 9 evidence that adding extra calcium affects amylase activity in processes like mashing of beer. The 10 aims of this paper were to 1) investigate the role of salivary calcium on -amylase acti...

7 Thickness perception of starch-thickened products during eating has been linked to starch viscosity 8 and salivary amylase activity. Calcium is an essential cofactor for -amylase and there is anecdotal 9 evidence that adding extra calcium affects amylase activity in processes like mashing of beer. The 10 aims of this paper were to 1) investigate the role of salivary calcium on -amylase acti...

Cold–active polygalacturonase and amylase producers were screened using enrichment culture technique. The diverse sources screened were cold stored spoilt fruits and vegetables from different local super markets, market waste dumped soils, fruit waste dumped soils, mountain soils and Himalayan soils. About sixty yeasts showing pectinolytic activity were isolated by ruthenium red plate assay. Ei...

It is believed that the inhibition of carbohydrate hydrolyzing enzymes including α-amylase and α-glucosidase is one of the therapeutic approaches to decrease the postprandial glucose level after a meal, especially in the people with type 2 diabetes. Medicinal plants and their extracts are one of the main sources to find new inhibitors to the enzymes. In our study four flavonoids, namely luteoli...

I describe a new kinetic enzymatic saccharogenic method for assaying alpha-amylase in human serum and urine. alpha-Amylase liberates maltose from starch. This is successively acted on by alpha-glucosidase, mutarotase, and glucose dehydrogenase. The resulting conversion of NAD+ to NADH, measured at 340 nm, during a 20-min incubation reflects amylase activity. Endogenous glucose is destroyed befo...

BACKGROUND The digestion of dietary starch in humans is initiated by salivary α-amylase, an endo-enzyme that hydrolyzes starch into maltose, maltotriose and larger oligosaccharides. Salivary amylase accounts for 40 to 50% of protein in human saliva and rapidly alters the physical properties of starch. Importantly, the quantity and enzymatic activity of salivary amylase show significant individu...

bilberry [vaccinium myrtillus linn. (ericaceae)] fruit (vmf) has been traditionally used for treatment of bladder stones, biliary disorders, scurvy, coughs, and lung tuberculosis. vmf may have some pharmaceutical properties owing to these uses, but in vivo and in vitro studies are limited for clarification of medicinal activity and its antidiabetic and antioxidant properties are not investigate...

The enzymatic activity of salivary amylase bound to the surface of several species of oral streptococci was determined by the production of acid from starch and by the degradation of maltotetraose to glucose in a coupled, spectrophotometric assay. Most strains able to bind amylase exhibited functional enzyme on their surface and produced acid from the products of amylolytic degradation. These s...

Amylase activity in several tissue and body fluid compartments in the rat changed markedly when the secretion of digestive enzyme was augmented over a 3-hr period with a cholinergic agonist. As a result of stimulation, the pancreas was depleted of about one-third of its amylase activity and accounted for only 75% of the amount recovered from the animal, compared to 92% in the fasted state. Desp...