Meta-Biol

• Pathways

Maltotriose is representative of linear glucose oligomers containing more than two residues. The 1-4 linkages of extracellular maltotriose are hydrolyzed to yield maltose and glucose in a reaction catalyzed by the exoglucosidase activity of sucrase-isomaltase (Nichols et al. 1998). In the body, this enzyme is found as a heterodimer on the external face of enterocytes in microvilli of the small intestine (Hauri et al. 1985), and acts on maltotriose derived directly from the diet and from the hydrolysis of starch, although with lower activity than maltase-glucoamylase.