amylase

noun

am·y·lase | \ ˈa-mə-ˌlās

, -ˌlāz \

Definition of amylase

: any of a group of enzymes (such as amylopsin) that catalyze the hydrolysis of starch and glycogen or their intermediate hydrolysis products

Examples of amylase in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web And even modern dogs carry varying numbers of amylase genes, notes Larson, who also was not on the research team. — Tess Joosse, Scientific American, 22 Sep. 2021 Because the amylase enzyme is much more efficient at digesting cooked rather than raw starch, the finding also suggests cooking, too, was common by 600,000 years ago, Carmody says. — Ann Gibbons, Science | AAAS, 10 May 2021 Carrots, like many root vegetables, contain large reserves of starch, and over time, an enzyme called amylase cuts the starch to release sucrose, or table sugar. — Nik Sharma, Washington Post, 8 May 2020 But even the largest small proteins don't measure up to average-size proteins such as alpha amylase, a 496–amino-acid enzyme in our saliva that breaks down starch. — Mitch Leslie, Science | AAAS, 17 Oct. 2019 Those little birds had higher cholesterol and more amylase, an enzyme that turns starch into sugar. — Jason Daley, Smithsonian, 5 Aug. 2019 But these seven first-release beers, with descriptions provided on the festival website’s beer page, have our salivary amylase getting fired up way too soon. — oregonlive.com, 19 July 2019 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'amylase.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.