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Saliva has two main uses. First by moistening food as you chew it, it makes the food into a nice slurry that can easily slide down the esophagus when you swallow it. Dry food would be much scratchier on the throat. Secondly, saliva contains a digestive enzyme which begins the process of digesting complex carbohydrates into easily absorbed sugar.
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DevinFunctions of Saliva
- Lubricates the mouth
- Has enzymes to begin breaking down food
- Helps prevent tooth decay and gum disease
Without saliva, food particles that get caught between the teeth would stay there much longer, causing plaque and cavities to develop much more quickly. The function of saliva is too start the break-down of the food in your mouth. It also helps you form your food into a bolus, making it easier to swallow. If you place cotton candy in your mouth, and feel it "melt away," then, that's the saliva breaking the cotton down back into it's original form: sugar. Saliva helps with breaking down meats, beans, and especially bread. Think of it this way. If you had no saliva, your mouth would be absolutely and completely dry. With an absolute dry mouth, think of eating a piece of bread. It's going to be near impossible, huh?
Saliva contains an enzyme called salivary amylase which digest the starch (complex molecule) present in food into sugar (maltose) in digestion and digestive processes saliva acts as a substance to add moisture to foods and intake to help break it down. It works as an enzyme (speeds up) for mechanical digestion in the mouth. It specifically helps break down starch into maltose by using the enzyme salivary amylase produced by the salivary glands.
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