1) Where in the body is the pH approximately 2.0? If the starch was not completely digested at a pH of 2.0 what do you think happened to salivary amylase?
2) Where in the body is the pH approximately or close to 9.0? If the starch was not completely digested at pH of 9.0 what do you think happened to salivary amylase?
1) In our body, we have the HCl present in the stomach which keeps the pH as low as 2.0. This pH is meant for the enzyme pepsin which works best at that pH. However amylase ( the enzyme which acts on starch) works best at pH 6-7 being most active at pH 6.8. At pH-2 this enzyme cant wok as it gets denatured at low pH.
2) In our body, we have the pancreatic and intestinal secretions in duodenum (part of small intestine) where Ph is 8.5 or close to 9. At pH greater than 7, the amylase gets denatured and hence have little or no amylase activity.
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