The Effects of various Chemical Agents upon the Starch-convert- 
ing Power of Taka Diastase 
By Kary F. KELLERMAN 
The importance which the study of enzymes has acquired in 
the last few years has brought the chemist and physiologist into 
even closer relationship than that existing before. Furthermore, 
in studying the general problems of fermentation, both as regards 
the effects of various enzymes on each other, and in some cases 
their action in relation to the growth and nutrition of the organism 
containing them, it has seemed to the writer that as a foundation 
for accurate work a knowledge of the effects of physical and 
chemical conditions upon the enzymes is absolutely necessary. 
For certain diastases the effects of various physical conditions 
have been rather carefully worked out, but results relative to the 
action of chemical agents upon these diastases seem more or less 
meager and scattered. It has been attempted to study in a sys- 
tematic way the effect of a considerable number of chemical agents 
upon diastatic action, and the results of the work are given in this 
paper. 
Taka diastase was chiefly used as the subject of the following 
experiments, and is here reported upon in detail, on account of its 
uniformly rapid action and its great keeping qualities. However 
most of the work has been repeated, using malt diastase instead of 
taka, and occasional references will be made to the former. 
This taka diastase is the Japanese Saké ferment, prepared 
from the fungus Ewrotium Oryzae, and now sold commercially for 
treatment of amylaceous dyspepsia. This enzyme is a little less 
sensitive to the presence of foreign substances, and its action, 
though at first more rapid, is not so complete as that of malt 
diastase.* That is, there is a greater percentage of starch not con- 
verted in the case of taka diastase, even after long-continued 
action, although the conversion of the other portion of the starch 
is much more rapid. 
* Stone & Wright, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 20: 167, 681. 
56 
