Diastase

A diastase (/ˈdaɪəsteɪz/; from Greek διαστασις, "separation") is any one of a group of enzymes which catalyses the breakdown of starch into maltose. Alpha amylase degrades starch to a mixture of the disaccharide maltose, the trisaccharide maltotriose, which contains three α (1-4)-linked glucose residues, and oligosaccharides known as dextrins that contain the α (1-6)-linked glucose branches.^[1]

Diastase was the first enzyme discovered.^[2] It was extracted from malt solution in 1833 by Anselme Payen and Jean-François Persoz, chemists at a French sugar factory.^[3] The name "diastase" comes from the Greek word διάστασις (diastasis) (a parting, a separation) because, when beer mash is heated, the enzyme causes the starch in the barley seed to transform quickly into soluble sugars and hence the husk to separate from the rest of the seed.^[4][5] Today, "diastase" refers to any α-, β-, or γ-amylase (all of them hydrolases) that can break down carbohydrates.^[6]

The commonly used -ase suffix for naming enzymes was derived from the name diastase.^[7]

When used as a pharmaceutical drug, diastase has the ATC code A09AA01.

Amylases can also be extracted from other sources including plants, saliva and milk.

See also

• Takadiastase
• Whipple disease
• amylase

References

1. Gray, G.M. (1975). "Carbohydrate digestion and absorption". New England Journal of Medicine 292 (23): 1225–1230. doi:10.1056/NEJM197506052922308. PMID 1093023.
2. See:
   • Hill, Robert; Needham, Joseph (1970). The Chemistry of Life: Eight Lectures on the History of Biochemistry. London: Cambridge University Press. p. 17.
   • Silverman, Richard B. (2002). The Organic Chemistry of Enzyme-catalyzed Reactions (2nd ed.). London: Academic Press. p. 1.
   • Stenesh, Jochanan (1998). Biochemistry 2. New York: Plenum. p. 83.
   • Meyers, Robert A., ed. (1995). Molecular Biology and Biotechnology: A Comprehensive Desk Reference. New York: Wiley-VCH. p. 296.
3. Payen & Persoz (1833), page 77. Payen and Persoz found diastase in the seeds of barley, oats, and wheat, as well as in potatoes (Payen & Persoz (1833), page 76).
4. Payen & Persoz (1833), pages 75-76.
5. Etymology of "diastase"
6. Oliver, Garrett (2011). The Oxford Companion to Beer. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 49. ISBN 0199912106. Retrieved 2013-12-27. Most of the activity of diastase can be attributed to the activities of two enzymes, alpha and beta amylase, and, to a lesser extent, gamma amylase (together, the amylases), although many other enzymes are also present.
7. The naming of enzymes using the suffix "-ase" has been traced to French scientist Émile Duclaux (1840-1904), who intended to honor the discoverers of diastase by introducing the practice in his book Traité de Microbiologie, vol. 2 (Paris, France: Masson and Co., 1899), Chapter 1, especially page 9.

• Payen, A. et J.-F. Persoz (1833) "Mémoire sur la diastase, les principaux produits de ses réactions et leurs applications aux arts industriels" (Memoir on diastase, the principal products of its reactions, and their applications to the industrial arts), Annales de chimie et de physique, 2nd series, 53 : 73–92.

External links

• Diastase at the US National Library of Medicine Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)