Maltase is an enzyme that breaks down maltose, a disaccharide made up of two glucose molecules. Maltase is produced by bacteria in the digestive tract and helps the body use glucose for energy. Maltose is found in barley and beer and is a naturally occurring disaccharide.
Maltase is a digestive enzyme, a natural substance that helps the body break down maltose sugar into its individual components. Maltose is a disaccharide, meaning it is made up of two linked simple sugars known as monosaccharides, specifically a glucose linked to a glucose. Maltase breaks the link between these two sugars so that the body can use them for energy.
Found in barley and beer, maltose is a naturally occurring disaccharide. Like monosaccharides, disaccharides are known as simple sugars. In contrast, polysaccharides are made up of three or more linked sugars. These are commonly known as starches and complex carbohydrates.
Like sucrose, or table sugar, and lactose, the sugar found in milk, maltose is made up of a pair of monosaccharides. These monosaccharides, particularly glucose, are the body’s main form of energy. The term blood sugar refers to glucose, which is stored in the liver and muscle tissue so that it is available for energy when the body needs it.
To access the individual glucose molecules, the body must split the maltose molecule in two. This is where the maltase comes in. Manufactured in the human digestive tract by bacteria, maltase is an enzyme, a type of protein that acts as a catalyst for the transformation of maltose into two glucoses. The process by which this happens is known as hydrolysis, in which maltase breaks the glycosidic bond connecting the glucose molecules by contributing a water molecule.
Maltose has a molecular formula of C12H22O11, which means it is made up of 12 carbon atoms, 22 hydrogen atoms, and 11 oxygen atoms, with the extra oxygen atom joining the two glucose molecules in the glycosidic bond. During hydrolysis, maltase contributes another two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom via a water molecule (H2O), with a single positively charged hydrogen ion (H) going to a glucose molecule and the carbon atoms. remaining bonded hydrogen and oxygen going to the other glucose molecule. In short, these ionized glucose molecules will be transported across cell membranes to be stored for immediate use by adenosine triphosphate, the energy-producing unit of every cell.
In short, the maltase created by bacteria in the intestines works with maltose in partially digested food. This maltose may have been consumed as a disaccharide, as in beer, or it may have been hydrolyzed in the mouth by amylase in saliva to a more complex polysaccharide that has been consumed. Either way, once this disaccharide reaches the small intestine, maltase released by the mucous membrane lining the intestinal tract breaks it down into a monosaccharide form. The remaining glucose molecules are absorbed through the cells in the wall and enter the bloodstream, where they are transported to the liver and subsequently to the muscles of the body.
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