December 30th, 2009 by admin

Saliva is produced in the oral cavity or mouth of humans and plays an important role in the process of digestion. There are a amount of six salivary glands in the mouth. These are the parotid glands, submandibular and sublingual. The sublingual glands are located under the tongue, the submandibular glands are present in the lower jaw and parotid glands are low and in front of the ears.

Electrolytes, Saliva consists of water, mucus, antibacterial compounds, and enzymes. 98% of saliva had of water. Saliva also contains enzymes such ptyalin and amylase. Ptyalin is part of the family of enzymes called amylase. It breaks down starch in food and salivary amylase. Mucus in saliva helps soften food and neutralize acids in the mouth and therefore have an alkaline effect.

Saliva contributes mainly to the lubrication of food. Once this is done with the chewing, it becomes easy for food to pass into the esophagus. Otherwise, the antibacterial substances in saliva also help to eliminate unwanted bacteria which may enter or May is in the mouth. It asll well has small amounts of hydrogen peroxide in it.

In some animals such as mice, it was found that saliva contains a substance called Nerve Growth Factor. This is capable of healing the wounds. This substance is not found in humans, although it was shown that he can heal wounds much faster.