When the starch is swallowed, it goes to the stomach where the work of salivary amylase gets extinguished because of the acidic nature of the stomach, hence lowering the pH below 4.0. Digestion of starch gets active again when the food reaches the small intestines. The brush borders of the small intestine contain enzymes such as maltase, isomaltase, sucrase and lactase, which hydrolyze disaccharides into oligosaccharides. Pancreatic amylase breaks down oligosaccharides further into monosaccharides, the simplest form of carbohydrates. The brush borders produces another enzyme referred to as maltase that breaks down maltose into glucose. Sucrase, lactase and other pancreatic enzymes break down sucrose and lactose. Therefore, the final end products of starch digestion are glucose, sucrose and lactose.
