When a consumer proposes a toast before dinner, he may not be thinking about how that beer was fermented or how his body so easily digests the milk, bread and meat he is about to consume. If he did think about it, he may just want to raise his glass to enzymes.
Enzymes are the reason he can digest that meal and drink that beer. In fact, the discovery of enzymes is rooted in alcohol’s history. In the 19th century, Louis Pasteur found the fermentation of sugar to alcohol was catalyzed by a vital force contained within yeast cells. He called them "ferments," but in 1878, German physiologist Wilhelm Kühne was thinking more about bread yeast when he coined the term “enzyme.” In Greek, zyme meant “leaven,” so enzyme was to “en-leaven” the bread. While Pasteur thought ferments were only found in living yeast cells, Eduard Buchner found sugar was fermented even without living yeast cells in 1897. In 1907, Buchner was rewarded for his discovery with the Nobel Prize.
Enzymes are catalysts for biochemical reactions, meaning they speed up reactions using lower activation energy than would be necessary for the process to go on without the enzyme. Meat, for example, can sit out at room temperature and biodegrade over a few days; but, the enzymes in the digestive track can speed up that process, so humans can get all of the nutrients during the course of a day or so. Enzymes also have a unique shape, which allows a lock-and-key method with the molecules involved in their reactions. This means enzymes are highly selective, only causing specific reactions.
When enzymes take part in a biochemical reaction, they do not undergo permanent changes and, therefore, remain unaffected at the end of the reaction. This means they can repeat their actions multiple times within the body, unlike other vitamins and nutrients. For example one vitamin C molecule combats one free radical and must be consumed in the process. Enzymes, on the other hand, can continue to react with a specific type of molecule several times.
Another way enzymes are unlike vitamins is how they are measured. Mike Smith, vice president, Specialty Enzymes & Biochemicals Co., explained: “Enzyme labeling is tricky, not only because there is no daily value, but because the actual milligram amount is practically meaningless. The essential measure of enzymes is by activity more so than weight. It is further complicated because there are many different ways to measure activity. In North America, we tend to use USP (United States Pharmacopeia) assays for animal source enzymes and FCC (Food Chemicals Codex) for plant, bacterial and fungal enzymes. There are some older assays that are still in common use such as gelatin-digesting units (GDU) for bromelain, SKB [Sandstedt, Keen and Blish units] for amylase and MCU [milk clot units] for papain.”
While enzymes control most all of the physiological functions of life, they are mostly used in dietary supplements to aid digestion. Food processing starts with enzymes in the mouth in where salivary glands secrete carbohydrate digestive enzymes. In the gastrointestinal (GI) track, digestion continues with the secretion of hydrochloric (HCl) acid, the enzyme pepsin, and additional starch and protein hydrolases (another type of enzyme). Then, the small intestine secrets alkaline bicarbonate buffers and pancreatic enzymes to further the digestion process.
When these enzymes don’t work correctly, GI abnormalities can result, including constipation, diarrhea, malnutrition, irritable bowel syndrome, dyspepsia, Crohn’s disease, maldigestion, malaria, cystic fibrosis, multiple sclerosis and cancer, to name a few. To help reduce these and other enzyme deficiency ailments, consumers may look to supplement their diets with enzymes.
“Because supplemental enzymes support healthy digestion and may help maximize absorption of nutrients, consumers are discovering three key benefits of taking enzymes: addressing symptoms of poor digestion, improving nutrient absorption and, therefore, maximizing their food and nutrition budget,” said Rodger R. Rohde Jr., president of Triarco Industries Inc.
