Category:Diastase

Di"a*stase, n. Etym: [Gr. diastase. Cf. Diastasis.] (Physiol. Chem.)

Defn: A soluble, nitrogenous ferment, capable of converting starch and dextrin into sugar.

Note: The name is more particularly applied to that ferment formed during the germination of grain, as in the malting of barley; but it is also occasionally used to designate the amylolytic ferment contained in animal fluids, as in the saliva.