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Enzymes - Dictionary Definition and Overview |
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Ferment \Fer"ment\, n. [L. fermentum ferment (in senses 1 & 2),
perh. for fervimentum, fr. fervere to be boiling hot, boil,
ferment: cf. F. ferment. Cf. 1st Barm, Fervent.]
1. That which causes fermentation, as yeast, barm, or
fermenting beer.
Note: Ferments are of two kinds: ({a) Formed or organized
ferments. ({b) Unorganized or structureless ferments.
The latter are also called soluble or chemical
ferments, and enzymes. Ferments of the first class
are as a rule simple microscopic vegetable organisms,
and the fermentations which they engender are due to
their growth and development; as, the acetic ferment,
the butyric ferment, etc. See Fermentation.
Ferments of the second class, on the other hand, are
chemical substances, as a rule soluble in glycerin and
precipitated by alcohol. In action they are catalytic
and, mainly, hydrolytic. Good examples are pepsin of
the dastric juice, ptyalin of the salvia, and disease
of malt.
Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
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Enzymes : Enzymes: Proteins that act as a catalysts in mediating and speeding a specific chemical reaction .
In 1902 Archibald Garrod first attributed a disease to an enzyme defect: an inborn error of metabolism. Today, newborns are routinely screened for certain enzyme defects such as PKU
(phenylketonuria) and galactosemia, an error in the handling (metabolism) of the sugar galactose.
Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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