Why do we have saliva in our mouth?

Answer

Saliva has several functions, for example:

• it helps to make the food more liquid so that it can pass more easily through the esophagus on its way to the stomach.
• dry foods are moistened by saliva and this will allow you to taste them better.
• saliva contains enzymes that aid in digestion. These enzymes, in particular amylases, mainly break down starch into simple building blocks, glucose molecules.
• saliva takes care of oral hygiene. Even when we do not eat, there is saliva production, which means that leftover food remains wash away. In addition, substances, lysosymes, are produced that affect some bacteria, so that not too many bacteria grow in our mouth.

In general, there is a higher saliva production during eating, a lower between meals and a lower saliva production during sleep.

A (not so clean) test to check the functioning of the amylase enzyme in saliva. Amylase, present in saliva, breaks down starch (not naturally sweet) into the sweet molecule glucose.

• chew a piece of bread without butter or toppings, it contains a lot of starch, a compound that does not have a sweet taste. Do this for 1 to 2 minutes.
• remove the chewed piece of bread from your mouth, wrap in aluminum foil so that it does not dry out too much and put it in a ‘warm place’, eg. window sill above the heating, so that you have a temperature of about 37°C. Leave it for half an hour.
• taste the piece of bread again. It will be noticeably sweeter! The enzyme amylase in saliva has broken down starch into the sweet molecule glucose!

Tasty?!