Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Diastase
Di′a-stase
,Noun.
[Gr. [GREEK] separation, fr. [GREEK], [GREEK] to stand apart;
διά
through + [GREEK], [GREEK], to stand, set: cf. F. diastase
. Cf. Diastasis
.] (Physiol. Chem.)
A soluble enzyme, capable of converting starch and dextrin into sugar.
☞ The name is more particularly applied to that enzyme formed during the germination of grain, as in the malting of barley; but it is also occasionally used to designate the amylolytic enzyme contained in animal fluids, as in the saliva.