Is there acid in saliva?

Question

My father and brother have been debating this. What's the answer? What is saliva made of?

Answer 1

Yes, but also during different times there are acid neutralizers. There is acid that forms from plaque, and saliva can neutralize that acid too.

Answer 2

Sort of. The bacteria in your mouth (mine too) will convert sugar and other carbohydrates into acid, which causes tooth decay and gum disease. The saliva itself is otherwise an acid BUFFER that neutralizes this acid.

So... If you have a bucket of water and add a pint of acid, is there acid in the water? The acid didn't come from the water, but it's there. Before too long, the water will dilute the acid, so it won't be so acid any more. This is how it is with saliva and the acid produced by the bacteria that live in your mouth.

I hope your father and brother don't have any money riding on the answers you get here.

Answer 3

Saliva is the watery and usually somewhat frothy substance produced in the mouths of some animals, including humans. Produced in salivary glands, saliva is 98% water, but it contains many important substances, including electrolytes, mucus, antibacterial compounds and various enzymes. The digestive functions of saliva include moistening food, and helping to create a food bolus, so it can be swallowed easily. Saliva contains the enzyme amylase that breaks some starches down into maltose and dextrin. Thus, digestion of food occurs within the mouth, even before food reaches the stomach.

The importance of the salivary protective function can be demonstrated by considering a scenario where an individual is about to vomit. Vomit contains gastric substances which are extremely acidic and will erode teeth. A protective reflex occurs before the individual prepares to vomit. Signals are sent from the brain to the salivary glands via the involuntary nervous system to cause increased saliva secretion, even before vomiting occurs. Thus, when vomiting does occur, there is already saliva present in the mouth acting to minimize the acidity and thus prevent destruction of tooth structure.

In addition to this, saliva is responsible for depositing salivary pellicle that covers the entirety of the tooth surfaces. This pellicle is believed to play a role in plaque formation, though there is evidence that it may also act as a protective barrier between acids and the tooth surface.

Answer 4

Saliva is primarily made of water (98%), mucous and enzymes like lipase. The pH of saliva is neutral, so there are no acids. In fact, most of the enzymes in saliva are inactive until they reach the acidic stomach. There are also some electrolytes in saliva, but they are in minute quantities and generally do not affect the acidity of saliva.
You have been watching too many alien movies if you think that saliva would contain acid. This would erode the mucous membranes of your mouth and esophagus.
If you don't believe me, get a strip of pH test paper, and wet it with some spit. There will be no change.

Answer 5

Saliva is 98% water, but it contains many important substances, including electrolytes, mucus, antibacterial compounds and various enzymes. The digestive functions of saliva include moistening food, and helping to create a food bolus, so it can be swallowed easily. Saliva contains the enzyme amylase that breaks some starches down into maltose and dextrin. Thus, digestion of food occurs within the mouth, even before food reaches the stomach. It does not contain "acid", like the stomach does. In fact, it helps to neutralize stomach acid in the mouth when you vomit.

Answer 6

Saliva is the watery and usually somewhat frothy substance produced in the mouths of some animals, including humans. Produced in salivary glands, saliva is 98% water, but it contains many important substances, including electrolytes, mucus, antibacterial compounds and various enzymes. The digestive functions of saliva include moistening food, and helping to create a food bolus, so it can be swallowed easily. Saliva contains the enzyme amylase that breaks some starches down into maltose and dextrin. Thus, digestion of food occurs within the mouth, even before food reaches the stomach.

The importance of the salivary protective function can be demonstrated by considering a scenario where an individual is about to vomit. Vomit contains gastric substances which are extremely acidic and will erode teeth. A protective reflex occurs before the individual prepares to vomit. Signals are sent from the brain to the salivary glands via the involuntary nervous system to cause increased saliva secretion, even before vomiting occurs. Thus, when vomiting does occur, there is already saliva present in the mouth acting to minimize the acidity and thus prevent destruction of tooth structure.

In addition to this, saliva is responsible for depositing salivary pellicle that covers the entirety of the tooth surfaces. This pellicle is believed to play a role in plaque formation, though there is evidence that it may also act as a protective barrier between acids and the tooth surface. [1]

A common belief is that saliva contained in the mouth has natural disinfectants, which leads people to believe it is beneficial to "lick their wounds". Researchers at the University of Florida at Gainesville have discovered a protein called nerve growth factor (NGF) in the saliva of mice. Wounds doused with NGF healed twice as fast as untreated and unlicked wounds; therefore, saliva does have some curative powers in some species. NGF has not been found in human saliva; however, researchers find human saliva contains such antibacterial agents as secretory IgA, lactoferrin, and lactoperoxidase. [2] It has not been shown that human licking of wounds disinfects them, but licking is likely to help clean the wound by removing larger contaminants such as dirt and may help to directly remove infective bodies by brushing them away.

There has been some disagreement regarding the daily salivary output in a healthy individual. Today, it is believed that the average person produces about 700mL of saliva per day, which is much less than originally thought.

Answer 7

there is acid in saliva that begins the digestive process. Our pediatrician told us this. He said not to save baby food that you have been feeding the baby as saliva is transferred from the spoon into the dish and if you save it the saliva will begin to break up the food. "The book What to expect during the first year" will confirm this fact

Answer 8

Saliva is made up of enzymes which break down food. There is no need for acid in the saliva. There is acid in your stomach which helps to break down food, but your stomach is specialy designed to support this environment.

Answer 9

Digestion of starch actually starts in the mouth. The enzyme amylase, which is responsible for starch degradation is present in saliva. Starch can be considered as a long chain of many concatenated glucose molecules. Amylase splits this chain in many small two-glucose units (called maltose).
However, most of the starch taken up with food is degraded in the small intestine (amylases are also produced by the pancreas and are excreted to the duodenum from which they reach the small intestine). In the stomach, amylases are not active, i think (due to low pH). Infants cannot digest starch as they lack amylase production.

Answer 10

No acid is found only in the stomach salvia is produced by your mouth to help dissolve food so that it can be shallowed but it does not contain acid.