Diastase \Di"a*stase\, n. [Gr. ? separation, fr. ?, ? to stand apart; dia` through + ?, ?, to stand, set: cf. F. diastase. Cf. {Diastasis}.] (Physiol. Chem.) A soluble enzyme, capable of converting starch and dextrin into sugar.
Note: The name is more particularly applied to that enzyme formed during the germination of grain, as in the malting of barley; but it is also occasionally used to designate the amylolytic enzyme contained in animal fluids, as in the saliva.