What is saliva made of?

Question

What happens when you swallow it?

Answer 1

Saliva is made by the salivary glands. It is a fluid containing:

* Electrolytes: (2-21 mmol/L sodium, 10-36 mmol/L potassium, 1.2-2.8 mmol/L calcium, 0.08-0.5 mmol/L magnesium, 5-40 mmol/L chloride, 2-13 mmol/L bicarbonate, 1.4-39 mmol/L phosphate)
* Mucus. Mucus in saliva mainly consists of mucopolysaccharides and glycoproteins;
* Antibacterial compounds (thiocyanate, hydrogen peroxide, and secretory immunoglobulin A)
* Various enzymes. The major enzymes found in human saliva are alpha-amylase (EC3.2.1.1), lysozyme (EC3.2.1.17), and lingual lipase (EC3.1.1.3). Amylase starts the digestion of starch and lipase fat before the food is even swallowed. It has a pH optima of 7.4. Lingual lipase has a pH optimum ~4.0 so it is not activated till entering an acidic environment. Lysozyme acts to lyse bacteria. Human saliva contains also salivary acid phosphatases A+B (EC3.1.3.2), N-acetylmuramyl-L-alanine amidase (EC3.5.1.28), NAD(P)H dehydrogenase-quinone (EC1.6.99.2), salivary lactoperoxidase (EC1.11.1.7), superoxide dismutase(EC1.15.1.1), glutathione transferase (EC2.5.1.18), class 3 aldehyde dehydrogenase (EC1.2.1.3), glucose-6-phosphate isomerase (EC5.3.1.9), and tissue kallikrein (EC3.4.21.35). The presence of these things causes saliva to sometimes have a foul odor.

We produce 1.5 liters of salva and it has no effect when we swallow it. George Carlin once said that "Death is caused by swallowing small amounts of saliva over a long period of time" but he was joking.

Answer 2

Saliva is a clear liquid that's made in your mouth 24 hours a day, every day. It's made up mostly of water, with a few other chemicals. The slippery stuff is produced by the salivary (say: sah-luh-vair-ee) glands. These glands are found on the inside of each cheek, on the bottom of the mouth, and under the jaw at the very front of the mouth. They secrete (say: sih-kreet), or ooze, about 2 to 4 pints (or about 1 to 2 liters) of spit into your mouth every day!

Spit is super for lots of reasons. Saliva wets food and makes it easier to swallow. Without saliva, a grilled cheese sandwich would be dry and difficult to gulp down. It also helps the tongue by allowing you to taste. A dry tongue can't tell how things taste - it needs saliva to keep it wet.

Spit helps begin the process of digestion (say: dy-jes-chun), too. Before food hits your stomach, saliva starts to break it down while the food's still in your mouth. It does this with the help of enzymes (say: en-zimes), special chemicals found in the saliva. Breaking down the food this way makes the tongue's job a bit easier - it can push wet, chewed food toward the throat more easily.

Saliva also cleans the inside of your mouth and rinses your teeth to help keep them clean. (But remember that spit isn't enough to keep teeth in tip-top shape; you still need to brush and floss!) The enzymes in saliva also help to fight off infections in the mouth.

Most school-age kids have just the right amount of saliva. Sometimes a person may not have enough saliva, but this is usually the result of certain medicines or treatments, some kinds of diseases, or old age.

Answer 3

Well this is a question I've never considered!! lol

Citation 1:

COMPONENTS OF SALIVA

Organic components:
Glycoproteins
Inhibitory peptide
Antibodies

Inorganic components:
- Ca++, PO4+++, Na+, K+, HCO3-, H+

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Citation 2:

Proteins and Enzymes in Saliva

Many important proteins and enzymes are found in saliva. More than 40 proteins have been identified in salivary secretions. Not only proteins and lipids, but also the salivary electrolytes and organic molecules such as urea and ammonia are important components of the oral defense system. But the two most important subsatnces are the mucins and amylase.

Mucins
- Composed of glycoproteins that protect the epithelium from excessive friction, stops it from drying out and lubricates food.

- traps microorganism

- Digestive enzymes


- alpha-amylase which digests starch into glucose molecules

Similar to pancreatic amylase, it needs an alkaline medium for maximum activity.

Answer 4

A good portion of saliva is made of an enzyme called amylase. During mechanical digestion, amylase helps break down starch. Truely, digestion begins in the mouth, not the stomach.

Answer 5

Saliva contains amylase, an enzyme which helps you to digest starch and fats so that you can easily swallow your food in your mouth. Nothing much happens when you swallow it. It will not kill you, nor make you sick or feel uncomfortable.

Answer 6

What Is Saliva

Answer 7

saliva is made up of salivary amylase and mucus.
it aids in the swallowing of food by making it moist and enabling it to move through the gullet easily by the process of peristalsis.

Answer 8

okay u got some pretty detailed answers, but the easiest is that it is an enzyme called "ptyalin" ('p' is silent) also called salivary amylase.

Answer 9

i agree with the four answers before mine

Answer 10

its salivary amylase or ptylain amylase or something