Why are so many different enzymes needed to digest food?

Question

Why are so many different enzymes needed to digest food?

Answer 1

The purpose of enzymes is to speed up chemical reactions. However, enzymes are very specific and can only help along certain reactions. With all the varied compounds in the foods we eat, different reactions are needed, and in turn, different enzymes. This concept is the same with breaking down proteins. (Which is a form of a chemical reaction.)

Well besides answering a question that wasn't asked, smarties forgot something in her own little point. If only one enzyme was low or not present, only one or a few reactions/processes would not be catalyzed. However, the whole process is impeded. For example, in the process gina cites, glycolysis. If that first enzyme wasn't there to convert glucose to glucose-6-phosphate, all the other enzymes wouldn't have any reason to exist since there wouldn't be any glucose-6-phosphate, or fructose-6-phosphate, or pyruvate. Then the body dies because it is unable to utilize glucose.

Answer 2

Adeel, Gina and Ct are correct. However they are missing one point and that is that each enzyme is specific to only one substrate so that if because of a disease or genetic disorder a person lacks an enzyme, then only one reaction is messed up and not all the reactions that go on in the body. For example if someone is lactose intolerant, their body only lacks the enzyme that breaks down lactose and not all other sugars like fructose, sucrose, glucose and so on.

Answer 3

becuase there are so many different things inside of the food and each thing needs a different enzyme to break it down

enzymes arn't universal lol

Answer 4

There is a different enzyme involved in every chemical reaction that takes place during digestion.  In glycolysis (the breakdown of glucose), for example, there is an enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of glucose to glucose-6-phosphate, another enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of glucose-6-phosphate to fructose-6-phosphate, and every step until you end up with pyruvate, then another enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of pyruvate to acetyl CoA to begin the TCA cycle... etc, etc.  This is because enzymes are very substrate-specific; that is, the active site on an enzyme is only complementary to one molecule, or maybe multiple but very similar molecules. (Although I guess technically this example refers to cellular respiration and not actually digestion... but you get the idea).

Answer 5

Uhh... The food have different particles?

Answer 6

Different enzymes speed up the digestion of different classes of macromolecules.

Proteases are enzymes that speed the digestion of proteins .

Amylase and others are for carbohydrates.

Lipase for lipids.

The enzymes have a "pocket" where their substrate fits. Since the macromolecules have different shapes, they only fit in the enzyme that is for them. It's called "specificity."