Rishi Sharma
Last Activity: 4 Years ago
Dear Student,
Please find below the solution to your problem.
Normal pH in healthy mouth is about 6.5-7, so slightly acidic to neutral. Lime juice contains a mild organic acid (citric acid), so consuming food with lime juice will cause a lowering of pH in your mouth. As a consequence, the activity of ptyalin (salivary α-amylase, an enzyme which breaks starch down into maltose and dextrin, making digestion to glucose easier - and your body really needs glucose as a source of energy!) will be inhibited if pH drops below the optimum range of 5.6-6.9. In extremis, if enough acidic food is consumed together with food containing starch, probably the effect would be a slower digestion of starch since ptyalin is not much helping anymore (by starting breaking the starch from the mouth).
Thanks and Regards