What do digestive enzymes do to food?
Digestive enzymes facilitate the breakdown of food on a chemical level. Amylase hydrolyzes starch into sugar (monosaccharides). Pepsin hydrolyzes proteins into amino acids. Pancreatic enzymes hydrolyze carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids into their respective monomer units: monosaccharides; amino acids; glycerol molecules and fatty acids; and nucleotides. The villi and microvilli of the small intestine then absorb these monomer units into the blood stream so they can be transported and used by cells. Like other enzymes, digestive enzymes catalyze chemical reactions by stressing certain bonds and holding reactants (food and water) in the correct orientation, thereby reducing the activation energy of the chemical reactions.
