Question

Which of the following enzymes converts maltose to glucose?
A) Lactose
B) Invertase
C) Zymase
D) Diastase

Answer 1

Hint: The conversion of simple sugar like glucose into alcohol like ethanol is termed as the fermentation process. It is a very popular industrial as well as household method for the preparation of beverages and wine. The enzyme has the name according to its function or derived from its source.

Complete Solution :
Zymase is an enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of glucose. It reduces glucose into ethyl alcohol and carbon dioxide. It is a complex enzyme that favours the fermentation of sugar like glucose into ethanol and carbon dioxide.
- The enzyme naturally occurs in Yeast. The Zymase enzyme has a very wide application in the field of the winery. The fermentation process is a conversion of an organic substance by the action of an enzyme. The fermentation by Zymase or yeast is very popular in bakery industries. Here the liberated carbon dioxide is used as the rising agent.
- Zymase enzyme breaks down the glucose into pyruvate molecules by the process of glycolysis.it is an exothermic reaction. The pyruvates further break down into two acetaldehyde molecules and give out two carbon dioxide molecules as the waste. This acetaldehyde is then reduced to ethanol.
The reaction of the conversion or hydrolysis of maltose sugar into the glucose sugar is as shown below,
$\text{ }\underset{\begin{smallmatrix}
  \\
 \text{(Glucose)}
\end{smallmatrix}}{\mathop{{{\text{C}}_{6}}{{\text{H}}_{12}}{{\text{O}}_{6}}}}\,\text{ }\xrightarrow{\text{Zymase}}\text{ 2}{{\text{C}}_{\text{2}}}{{\text{H}}_{\text{5}}}\text{OH + 2C}{{\text{O}}_{\text{2}}}\uparrow \text{ }$

- Invertase is an enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of the breakdown of sucrose into fructose and glucose usually in the form of invert sugar. This enzyme is also known as the saccharase. The hydrolysis reaction of sucrose to give glucose and fructose is as shown below:
$\text{ }\underset{\begin{smallmatrix}
  \\
 (\text{Sucrose)}
\end{smallmatrix}}{\mathop{{{\text{C}}_{\text{12}}}{{\text{H}}_{\text{22}}}{{\text{O}}_{\text{11}}}}}\,\text{ }(aq)\text{ + }{{\text{H}}_{\text{2}}}\text{O }(l)\text{ }\xrightarrow{\text{Invertase}}\underset{\begin{smallmatrix}
  \\
 (\text{Glucose)}
\end{smallmatrix}}{\mathop{{{\text{C}}_{6}}{{\text{H}}_{12}}{{\text{O}}_{6}}}}\,(aq)+\underset{\begin{smallmatrix}
  \\
 (\text{Fructose)}
\end{smallmatrix}}{\mathop{{{\text{C}}_{6}}{{\text{H}}_{12}}{{\text{O}}_{6}}}}\,(aq)\text{ }$

A diastase is a group of enzymes which is found in malt and produced on the germination of seed. Diastase enzyme converts the starch into maltose and after it breaks down maltose into glucose.
Therefore, the Zymase enzyme converts glucose into ethanol and carbon dioxide.
So, the correct answer is “Option c”.

Note: Note that carbon dioxide is used to expand the dough into foam, and ethanol is used as the intoxicating agent in alcoholic beverages such as wine, beer, and liquor. The fermentation process is widely used in sugarcane factories to convert the malt into ethanol. Ethanol is used in gasoline.