Role of Digestive Enzymes and Gastrointestinal Hormones: Detailed Study

Introduction

Digestive enzymes break down polymeric macromolecules into smaller building blocks, which helps the body absorb them.

Nutrients are absorbed by our digestive system rather than the food we eat. Food must be broken down into nutritional components (from proteins), fatty acids and cholesterol (from fats), sugar (from carbs), vitamins, minerals and a range of animal and plant chemicals, from items such as steak and broccoli.

Our meal will not be broken down if we do not have enough digestive enzymes. That implies that even if we eat healthily, we aren’t getting enough nourishment. 

Food is broken down into smaller molecules by digestive enzymes, which your tissues, cells, and organs use for a variety of metabolic tasks. This process takes time and produces amino acids, glycerol, fatty acids and simple sugars. When you chew and break down food into little bits, specific enzymes generated in various sections of your digestive system kick in to finish the job.

Amylase

Amylase is a digestive enzyme that breaks down starch into tiny carbohydrates. There are two places where this enzyme is generated. To begin the digestive process, salivary amylase is produced by salivary glands in our mouth, which breaks down starch and converts it to maltose and smaller carbohydrates. Pancreatic amylase is produced by cells in the pancreas and flows to the small intestine through a duct. Amylase from the pancreas completes carbohydrate breakdown and produces glucose.

Protease

Protein is broken down into amino acids, which are the building components of protein. Trypsin, pepsin, and chymotrypsin are the three major protease enzymes. In your stomach, special cells create an enzyme called pepsinogen, which when in touch with the acid surrounding the stomach transforms to pepsin. Pepsin denatures portions of the protein’s chemical bonds, resulting in peptides, which are smaller molecules. The pancreas produces trypsin and chymotrypsin, enzymes that pass via the pancreatic duct and into the small intestine.

Lipase

Glycerol and fatty acids are formed when the lipase enzyme breaks down dietary lipids into smaller molecules. The cells of the stomach generate a little amount of lipase, known as gastric lipase. This enzyme is primarily responsible for the digestion of dietary fat. The pancreas generates pancreatic lipase, which operates in the small intestine, and the digestive tract’s principal source of lipase. Dietary fat is converted to tiny fat globules by bile generated in the liver and released in the gut. These fat globules are converted by pancreatic lipase into glycerol and fatty acids, which are tiny energy molecules. Glycerol and fatty acids circulate throughout the body in the blood and lymph arteries.

Although the principal enzymes used by our bodies to digest food include amylase, lipase and protease, there are many more specialised enzymes involved.