ptyalin

American  

[tahy-uh-lin] / ˈtaɪ ə lɪn /

noun

Biochemistry.

1. an enzyme in the saliva that converts starch into dextrin and maltose.

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ptyalin British  

/ ˈtaɪəlɪn /

noun

1. biochem an amylase secreted in the saliva of man and other animals

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ptyalin Scientific  

/ tī′ə-lĭn /

1. An enzyme found in the saliva of humans and herbivorous animals that helps in the predigestion of starches. Ptyalin is a type of amylase.

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Etymology

Origin of ptyalin

1835–45; < Greek ptýal ( on ) spittle, saliva + -in ²

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ptyalin

With age, a digestive change definitely involving an enzyme occurs in the salivary glands : they secrete less ptyalin, an enzyme that converts starch into sugars.

From Time Magazine Archive

Thus, diastase of malt, ptyalin of saliva, and boiling dilute sulphuric acid all convert starch by hydration into dextrin and sugar.

From The Gutenberg Webster's Unabridged Dictionary Section F, G and H by Project Gutenberg

We are not certain that nicotin ruins ptyalin; we are certain that the functions of other organs are vicarious of those of the salivary glands.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 06, No. 34, August, 1860 by Various

Though many azotized substances in a state of decomposition exert a similar agency, yet it is possessed by ptyalin in a much greater degree.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 06, No. 34, August, 1860 by Various

By finely dividing the food, it ensures its intimate contact with the digestive ferment, ptyalin.

From Text Book of Biology, Part 1: Vertebrata by Wells, H. G. (Herbert George)