THE ENZYMS CONCERNED 263 



obtained from com and potato mashes may equal in 

 purity the alcohol obtained from other fermentable mate- 

 rials; but the illicit manufacture of alcohol from such 

 mashes often results in the production of liquors the bad 

 qualities of which are due to the presence of other sub- 

 stances than the particular alcohol for which the fermen- 

 tation was carried on. Thus, jackass brandy, moonshine 

 whiskey, and the other Hquors illegally produced owe 

 their objectionable qualities to the products of other 

 organisms, such as the molds, rather than to pure yeasts. 

 They contain so-called fusel oils, a name given to other 

 alcohols than that obtained from the " clean " fermenta- 

 tion of grain or grapes. The effect of the fusel oils is 

 much more violent than that of ordinary ethyl alcohol. 



The Enzyms Concerned. — The hydrolytic enzyms 

 produced by the. cells of the barley grain are (1) amylase 

 which digests starch, converting it into malt sugar (see 

 Chap. VI), and (2) maltase, which splits malt sugar with 

 the addition of a molecule of water into the fermentable 

 sugar, glucose. The chemical relations of these sugars 

 may be indicated by their respective formulas. Thus 

 malt sugar is C12H22O11 while glucose is CsHiaOs. The 

 action of maltase is represented by the equation 



C12H22O11 -f" H2O = 2C6H12O6 



glucose 



(3) The oxidizing enzym zymase converts the sugars 

 into alcohol and CO2, releasing a certain amount of 

 energy, some of which can be measured as heat. Thus it 

 is seen that a part of the sugar which was originally made 

 from CO2 and H2O by means of energy absorbed by the 

 chlorophyll pigments in green leaves, is re-converted into 

 CO2 and part of the energy is released. Thus 



CeH,20e = 2C2H3OH + 2CO2 



glucose alcohol 



Commercial Uses of the Products. — In raising 

 bread CO2 is the essential product of the fermentation. 



