what does saliva made of?

Answer 1

the salivary glands secrete the saliva. the saliva contains amylase and mucus.

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

Whoa, that is a long answer up above. In human language, saliva is made of water, mucus, electrolytes, and enzymes. Basically it's a liquid designed to coat, bind, and lubricate food before it gets swallowed. Saliva begins to digest starches, makes food soluble so you can taste it, and coats your mouth for good oral hygiene (kills some bacteria that cause cavities).

Answer 4

It is a fluid containing:

* Water
* Electrolytes:
o 2-21 mmol/L sodium (lower than blood plasma)
o 10-36 mmol/L potassium (higher than plasma)
o 1.2-2.8 mmol/L calcium
o 0.08-0.5 mmol/L magnesium
o 5-40 mmol/L chloride (lower than plasma)
o 25 mmol/L bicarbonate (higher than plasma)
o 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. There are three major enzymes found in saliva.
o α-amylase (EC3.2.1.1). Amylase starts the digestion of starch and lipase fat before the food is even swallowed. It has a pH optima of 7.4.
o lysozyme (EC3.2.1.17). Lysozyme acts to lyse bacteria.
o lingual lipase (EC3.1.1.3). Lingual lipase has a pH optimum ~4.0 so it is not activated till entering an acidic environment.
o Minor enzymes include 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).
* Cells: Possibly as much as 8 million human and 500 million bacterial cells per mL. The presence of bacterial products (small organic acids, amines, and mercaptans) causes saliva to sometimes exhibit foul odor.

Answer 5

saliva is made up of saliva, coming from the salivary glands at the base of your mouth.

believe it or not, saliva is ALKALINE. same with soap.

if you do not believe me, you can do a simple Litmus Paper Test... take a blue litmus paper and spit on it, nothing happens.... take a red litmus paper and spit on it. you will see that the area you spit on, turning blue :)

hope this helps.

ps. sorry i can't really remember what saliva is made of, haha =P

Answer 6

Water