What is chemical digestion?

• A. Action of acid
• B. Action of enzyme
• C. Named enzyme
• D. Emulsification

Answer: (B)

Chemical digestion is the breakdown of large, complex food molecules into smaller, soluble units through chemical reactions driven mainly by enzymes. Enzymes attack carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, turning starches into sugars, proteins into amino acids, and fats into fatty acids and glycerol. The key idea is the enzyme-driven hydrolysis that makes nutrients absorbable.

Acid helps digestion, especially in the stomach, by denaturing proteins and creating an environment suitable for enzymes, but the defining mechanism of chemical digestion is the action of enzymes. Emulsification is a physical process that increases surface area for digestion but doesn’t by itself break the molecules, and naming a single enzyme doesn’t capture the broad, enzyme-based process involved in chemical digestion.