What is the enzyme that helps digest cheese?

1 Answer
Nov 14, 2017

First we have to see the composition of cheese, then we will know which enzymes are required to digest it.

Explanation:

http://www.botanical-online.com/fotos/alimentos/composition_cheesejpg

Like many food, cheese also contains a lot of water. It also contains lots of calcium, other minerals and vitamins. Our body must digest the protein, fat and carbohydrate components of cheese.

Cheese contains mainly milk protein casein. For digestion of protein, proteolytic enzymes are needed.

a) Such enzymes are present in gastric juice (e.g. pepsin ) and also in pancreatic juice (e.g. trypsin, chymotrypsin ).

b) Protein is broken down first in long polypeptides within stomach and then in smaller peptones within small intestine.

c) Lastly, carboxypeptidase (present in pancreatic juice) and aminopeptidase (present in intestinal juice) enzymes help in final digestion to produce absorbable amino acids.

Fat portion of cheese is digested by enzyme lipase , secreted by both intestinal glands and exocrine pancreas. Digestion of fat can take place in small intestine, only after mixing of bile juice. Bile salts present in bile help in emulsification of dietary fat to form microscopic fat globules. Lipase can then act on fat molecules to release absorbable fatty acids and glycerol molecules.

Sugar present in cheese is lactose: it is a disaccharide. Lactase is the enzyme, present in intestinal juice, that breaks down lactose into glucose and galactose.