Dextrine is a generic name applied to soluble gummy substances intermediate between starch and glucose. They are prepared from starch by the aid of dilute mineral acids or of malt extract, and are usually named according to the colour they give with iodine, e.g. erythro-dextrine, etc. When heated with dilute acids they are transformed into glucose. The composition is the same as that of starch. They are white, insipid, without smell, and are good substitutes for gum-arabic. Research Dextrine
Diastase is a complex nitrogenous organiccompound contained in germinating barley, oats, saliva and in the secretions of the pancreas. It is an enzyme which causes the fermentation of starch first into dextrine and then into glucose. The diastases from different sources are perhaps different. It is obtained by digesting in a mixture of three parts of water and one of alcohol, at a temperature of 113° Fahrenheit, a certain quantity of germinated barley ground and dried in the open air, and then putting the whole under pressure and filtering it. Diastase is solid, white, and soluble in water and dilute alcohol, but insoluble in strong alcohol. Research Diastase
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Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Dextrine
