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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.
Wiki User
∙ 10y ago
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∙ 7y agoFunctions 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.
Wiki User
∙ 13y agoProtection of oral cavity from microbes, Digestion of ingested food,Lubricating oral surface,Maintaining acid-base balence of blood.
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∙ 9y agoSaliva has multiple functions. Among these are lubrication of the mouth and food, digestion with the enzymes it contains, and protection from microbes.
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∙ 14y agoTO break down components of food for digestion
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∙ 10y agohelps break down food, moistens it, and makes it easier to digest.
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∙ 12y agoso your mouth does not go dry and you would need a drink every second of the day
Wiki User
∙ 13y agosaliva helps break down your food
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∙ 11y agohgvf
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What are the main functions of saliva?
To give you mono gosh
What is the purpose of saliva in the pig?
As in most mammals, the saliva in a pig functions to both moisten ingesta and to start breaking down sugars through the actions of amylase in the saliva.
Is saliva a neutral?
If this question contains to the pH factor, then no. Saliva is slightly acidic. With common functions, such as burping, vomiting, and just plain old digestion, saliva is slightly acidic due to the acid in the stomach.
What are the functions of the chemical digestion in animals?
Chemical digestion begins in the mouth with the secretion of saliva from three pairs of salivary glands. Saliva contains the digestive enzyme salivary amylase.
What is salivary glands responsible for?
The major and minor salivary glands produce saliva. Saliva has many functions, including lubrication of food, digestion, protection against microorganisms, etc.
What are the functions of saliva in humans?
The basic function of saliva is to moisten and Lubricate food. Saliva also contains salivary amylase which breaks the covalent bonds between glucose molecules in starch and other polysaccharides to produce the disaccharides maltose and isomaltose.
How does saliva help the digestive process?
Saliva does two main functions. The most obvious is that the salivary solution softens food, enabling it to be cut into pieces small enough to be swallowed. Saliva also contains amylase, an enzyme responsible for the break-down of starch.
What is the yellow Fluid that comes out a dying persons mouth?
When a person has died, all bodily functions cease. The person is likely to release stool, urine, and saliva. The fluid that comes out of the mouth is saliva.
