Robt Mann wrote:

>  >Enzymes are the only biologically active-living- component of the food =
> >complex.
>
>         This is about as wrong as it could be.  Much food is living  e.g.
> an apple.  But enzymes are only protein molecules  -  thousands of
> different molecules  -  found in food and in all living things.  Enzymes
> are not alive.

They also can be RNA (a fact discovered recently) which is not a protein
molecule, but that is nitpicking since most all are proteins.

An enzyme is a catalyst and aids chemical reactions in the body.

The enzymes in our body are produced by the body in cells. The body does
use food to make them but it uses food for a lot of things. And the
enzymes break down food as well as help create other chemicals necessary
for life. Some of the enzymes we produce are from the breakdown of
vitamins, which is why, later in life when the body is less efficient,
vitamin supplements are good to help the body produce enzymes along with
other chemicals.

Robert gave an excellent summary. Enzymes are no more alive than a
metallic substrate used as a catalyst in some chemical reactions. The
catalyst participates in the reaction by lowering the energy required
for the reaction to proceed and can therefore speed the reaction up. But
it goes in and comes out unchanged.

The enzymes in honey are produced by the bee (there are some traces of
plant enzymes as well as other insect enzymes (specifically in honeydew)
but do not appear to have much to do with what the bees enzymes do with
the nectar).

Enzymes can break down or become ineffective in the presence of heat
and/or a change in PH. If the conditions were not extreme, they can
become full effective if the contitions they require are restored. The
most important of the enzymes in honey are used by the bee to invert
sucrose to dextrose and levulose so honey will store best.

One enzyme in honey (Glucose Oxidase) acts as a catalyst in the presence
of water to produce hydrogen peroxide  which keeps the honey sterile and
prevents ( in the presence of limited amounts of water) fermentation and
spoilage. Without water, in low moisture honey, it is inactive. This is
the only enzyme that I have found that does something after the honey
has been capped. All the others seem to be used in the process of making
honey from nectar.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Me