maltase Chem.
(ˈmɒlteɪs, -ɔː-)
[f. malt n.1 + -ase, after diastase.]
Any enzyme which hydrolyses maltose and other α-glycosides.
| 1890 Jrnl. Chem. Soc. LVIII. 998 The author starts with the assumption that the diastase of malt is composed of a mixture of two enzymes—maltase and dextrinase. 1899 19th Cent. No. 265. 412 note, It [sucrase] is now named maltase, the termination in -ase being reserved for the names of all liquid ferments, or rather enzymes. 1946 Thorpe's Dict. Appl. Chem. (ed. 4) VII. 481/2 Maltase also hydrolyses..α-glycosides but not β-glycosides. 1964 N. G. Clark Mod. Org. Chem. xvi. 327 Hydrolysis with dilute hydrochloric acid yields two molecular proportions of glucose, and the glycosidic linkage is established as α by the fact that similar hydrolysis occurs with the enzyme maltase (which is specific for α-glycosides). 1968 A. White et al. Princ. Biochem. (ed. 4) xviii. 387 Maltases IV and V account for about two-thirds of the total maltase activity. |