What enzyme speeds up the breakdown of proteins in food?
Answers
pepsin is the enzyme which speed up the breakdown of proteins in food .
Protein digestion begins when you first start chewing. There are two enzymes in your saliva called amylase and lipase. They mostly break down carbohydrates and fats.
Once a protein source reaches your stomach, hydrochloric acid and enzymes called proteases break it down into smaller chains of amino acids. Amino acids are joined together by peptides, which are broken by proteases.
From your stomach, these smaller chains of amino acids move into your small intestine. As this happens, your pancreas releases enzymes and a bicarbonate buffer that reduces the acidity of digested food. This reduction allows more enzymes to work on further breaking down amino acid chains into individual amino acids.
Some common enzymes involved in this phase include:
trypsin
chymotrypsin
carboxypeptidase