diastase

American  

[dahy-uh-stays, -stayz] / ˈdaɪ əˌsteɪs, -ˌsteɪz /

1. an enzyme that breaks down starch into maltose, then dextrose, and is present in malt.

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diastase British  

/ ˈdaɪəˌsteɪs, -ˌsteɪz /

noun

1. any of a group of enzymes that hydrolyse starch to maltose. They are present in germinated barley and in the pancreas See also amylase

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Other Word Forms

• diastasic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of diastase

< French diastase (1833) < Greek diástasis; see diastasis, -ase

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

diastase

Pasteur considers that the yeast-cell secretes a sort of diastase which changes starch or cane-sugar into glucose, on which the cell then lives, decomposing the glucose into alcohol, carbonic acid, etc.

From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various

It is produced artificially when starch is boiled for a long time with sulphuric acid, or treated with a large quantity of diastase.

From Elements of Agricultural Chemistry by Thomas Anderson

Among the better known of these non-vital ferments are rennet, the milk-curdling enzym; diastase or ptyalin of the saliva, the starch-converting enzym; pepsin and trypsin, the digestive ferments of the animal body.

From Outlines of Dairy Bacteriology, 8th edition A Concise Manual for the Use of Students in Dairying by H. L. (Harry Luman) Russell

This hydrolysis is brought about by the enzyme "diastase," which is present in the sprouting grain.

From The Chemistry of Plant Life by Roscoe Wilfred Thatcher

This diastase and its brother-ferments have qualities resembling those of living creatures. 

From Rustic Sounds and Other Studies in Literature and Natural History by Sir Francis Darwin