Question

Write a short note on digestive enzymes.

Answer 1

Digestive enzymes play an important role in the process of digestion, by breaking down macromolecules to simple molecules.

Complete answer:
As our digestive system is incapable of absorbing the food directly, it instead absorbs the nutrients present in the food. For absorption of nutrients the food needs to be broken down and this is done with the help of digestive enzymes.
Digestive enzymes are a group of enzymes that break down macromolecules into their appropriate small building blocks, which results in the absorption of simple units by the body. These enzymes are found in the digestive tract of animals.

Four important types of digestive enzymes are:
1. Proteases and peptidases : These are enzymes present in gastric juice and pancreatic juice which helps in the splitting of protein into small peptides and amino acids.
2. Lipases: They are present in pancreatic juice and saliva, and help in splitting fats into fatty acids and glycerol.
3. Amylases: These are present in saliva and pancreatic juice, which split carbohydrate into simple sugars.
4. Nucleases: They are present in the pancreatic juice, which helps in splitting of nucleic acids into nucleotides.

Additional information:
Some organs and digestive enzymes:

S.No	Organ	Enzyme
1.	Mouth	LipaseSalivary anglaiseLysozyme
2.	Stomach	PepsinGastric lipase
3.	Pancreas	TrypsinogenChymotrypsinogenCarboxypeptidasePancreatic lipase PhospholipasePancreatic amylase
4.	Small intestine	MaltaseLactaseSurvase

Note: Digestive enzymes are seen in some carnivorous plants too. Chitinase, peroxidase, urease, phosphatase etc. are some of the digestive enzymes seen in carnivorous plants.