What is the function of salivary amylase?

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Multiple Choice

What is the function of salivary amylase?

Salivary amylase is all about starting carbohydrate digestion in the mouth. Made by the salivary glands, it acts on starches, breaking the α-1,4 glycosidic bonds to produce maltose, maltotriose, and dextrins. This is why the function you choose is to break down starches. It doesn’t target fats, nucleic acids, or proteins—those are handled by lipases, nucleases, and proteases, respectively. The enzyme works best in the mouth but is largely inactivated by stomach acid, so most starch digestion continues later in the small intestine with pancreatic amylase.

Salivary amylase is all about starting carbohydrate digestion in the mouth. Made by the salivary glands, it acts on starches, breaking the α-1,4 glycosidic bonds to produce maltose, maltotriose, and dextrins. This is why the function you choose is to break down starches. It doesn’t target fats, nucleic acids, or proteins—those are handled by lipases, nucleases, and proteases, respectively. The enzyme works best in the mouth but is largely inactivated by stomach acid, so most starch digestion continues later in the small intestine with pancreatic amylase.

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