Starch Digestion and Salivary Amylase Quiz

A chemical reaction involving sodium phosphate, ammonium molybdate, and nitric acid. It produces a yellow precipitate, which is ammonium phosphomolybdate.

A chemical compound with the formula KSCN, commonly found in saliva. It is a detoxification product resulting from protein metabolism or fruit ingestion.

A chemical reaction that occurs when potassium sulfocyanate (KSCN) reacts with ferric chloride (FeCl3) in the presence of hydrochloric acid (HCl). It produces a brick-red precipitate known as ferric sulfocyanate.

The concentration of potassium sulfocyanate (KSCN) is higher in the saliva of smokers compared to non-smokers.

This refers to the detectable presence of minerals within saliva. It can be analyzed using chemical reactions, like the formation of ferric sulfocyanate.

A chemical reaction used to detect the presence of reducing sugars like maltose. Maltose reduces copper sulfate (CuSO4) in an alkaline solution, creating a red-copper precipitate when heated.

Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH) is used to make the solution alkaline for the Trommer's reaction to occur.

The red precipitate that forms at the bottom of the test tube indicates the presence of reducing sugars in the solution.

A white, insoluble precipitate that forms when saliva containing calcium ions is mixed with ammonium oxalate. It is composed of calcium oxalate crystals.

Under a microscope, calcium oxalate crystals appear as octahedrons, which are eight-sided geometric shapes.

A yellow precipitate called ammonium phospho-molybdate appears when saliva is heated with nitric acid (HNO3) and ammonium molybdate. This indicates the presence of phosphate in saliva.

Nitric acid is used to create a suitable acidic environment for the phosphate test.

Ammonium molybdate is a reagent used in the phosphate test to react with phosphate ions in saliva, producing a yellow precipitate.

Saliva contains an enzyme called ptyalin (also known as salivary amylase) that breaks down starch into simpler sugars.

Starch is broken down into several shorter polysaccharides like amylodextrines, erythrodextrines, and acrodextrines. Ultimately, it's broken down into maltose, a disaccharide.

Lugol's solution (iodine and potassium iodide) is used to identify the different stages of starch digestion based on color changes. Blue-violet indicates amylodextrines, pink-violet indicates erythrodextrines, and a colorless solution indicates acrodextrines or maltose.

Maltose is the final product of starch digestion by saliva. It's a disaccharide, meaning it's made of two sugar units.

Heating saliva inactivates the enzyme ptyalin, preventing further starch breakdown. In the experiment, boiling saliva before adding it to starch inhibits digestion.

Factors like temperature and pH affect the activity of ptyalin. Ptyalin works best at a specific temperature (optimal temperature) and pH (optimal pH). If conditions deviate from this ideal, the activity of the enzyme slows down.

The experiment uses different time intervals (2-3 minutes, 5-7 minutes, 15-20 minutes, and 30 minutes) to show the progressive breakdown of starch. This demonstrates the time-dependent nature of enzyme action.

The experiment uses a control tube (T1) with starch and Lugol's solution only, to compare the color change in other tubes with saliva. This helps to establish a baseline for the digestion process.