Isolation of amylase (diastase)
Aislamiento de la amilasa (diastasa)
- Date
- 1833 · confidence high
- Place
- Paris, France
- Credited to
- Anselme Payen and Jean-François Persoz
- Field
- Life & health
What was discovered
Anselme Payen and Jean-François Persoz isolated from germinated barley malt an enzyme complex capable of breaking down starch, which they named 'diastase'; it was one of the first enzymes clearly isolated and gave rise to the convention of naming enzymes with the suffix '-ase'.
The year 1814 sometimes associated with this milestone corresponds to Payen's birth, not the discovery of amylase, which took place in 1833.
What it led to
- birth of modern enzymology
- the convention of naming enzymes with the suffix '-ase'
- industrial applications in brewing, baking and detergents