DIASTASE

Di″a‐stase (?), n. [[Gr. � separation, fr. �, � to stand apart; διά through + �, �, to stand, set: cf. F. diastase. Cf. Diastasis.]] (Physiol. Chem.) A soluble, nitrogenous ferment, capable of converting starch and dextrin into sugar. ☞ The name is more particularly applied to that ferment formed during the germination of grain, as in the malting of barley; but it is also occasionally used to designate the amylolytic ferment contained in animal fluids, as in the saliva.