Search the Dictionary

soluble, or chemical, ferment. Ptyalin, pepsin, diastase, and rennet are good examples of enzymes.

s, in Physiol. Chem., the achromic point of a starch solution acted upon by an amylolytic enzyme is the point at which it fails to give any color with iodine.

ats; converting neutral fats into glycerin and free fatty acids, esp. by the action of an enzyme; as, adipolytic action.

conversion of starch into soluble products, as dextrins and sugar, esp. by the action of enzymes. -- Am`y*lo*lyt"ic (#), a.

d or structureless ferments. The latter are also called soluble or chemical ferments, and enzymes. Ferments of the first class are as a rule simple microscopic vegetable organisms, and the fermentations which they engender are due to their growth and development; as, the acetic ferment, the butyric ferment, etc. See Fe…

uric acid or caustic alkali. Encyc. Brit. Hydrolitic ferment (Physiol. Chem.), a ferment, enzyme, or chemical ferment, which acts only in the presence of water, and which causes the substance acted upon to take up a molecule of water. Thus, diastase of malt, ptyalin of saliva, and boiling dilute sulphuric acid all conv…

An enzyme capable of effecting the inversion of cane suger, producing invert sugar. It is found in many plants and in the intestines of animals.

An unorganized proteolytic ferment or enzyme contained in the secretory glands of the stomach. In the gastric juice it is united with dilute hydrochloric acid (0.2 per cent, approximately) and the two together constitute the active portion of the digestive fluid. It is the active agent in the gastric juice of all anima…

An unorganized amylolytic ferment, on enzyme, present in human mixed saliva and in the saliva of some animals.

An unorganized ferment or enzyme present in pancreatic juice. It decomposes neutral fats into glycerin and fatty acids.

A proteolytic ferment, or enzyme, present in the pancreatic juice. Unlike the pepsin of the gastric juice, it acts in a neutral or alkaline fluid, and not only converts the albuminous matter of the food into soluble peptones, but also, in part, into leucin and tyrosin.

A soluble ferment, or enzyme. See Enzyme.

A mother substance, or antecedent, of an enzyme or chemical ferment; -- applied to such substances as, not being themselves actual ferments, may by internal changes give rise to a ferment. The pancreas contains but little ready-made ferment, though there is present in it a body, zymogen, which gives birth to the fermen…

The action of enzymes; also, the changes produced by such action. --Zy`mo*lyt"ic (#), a.