is a digestable carbohydrate (polysaccharide) with an amylose/ AMYLOPECTIN fraction. It is mostly found in cereal grain products, legumes, roots & tubers.   Carbohydrate digestion  MOUTH •Carbohydrate digestion BEGINS in the mouth. The salivary glands secrete saliva, which helps to moisten the food. The food is then chewed while the salivary glands also release the enzyme salivary amylase, which begins the process of breaking down the polysaccharides in the food STOMACH •After the food is chewed into smaller pieces and mixed with salivary amylase and other salivary juices, it is swallowed and passed through the esophagus. The mixture enters the stomach where it is known as chyme. There is no further digestion of carbohydrates in the stomach, as the gastric acidity inactivates the action of the salivary amylase. PANCREAS AND SMALL INTESTINE •The chyme enters the beginning portion of the small intestine, the duodenum. In response to chyme being in the duodenum, the pancreas releases the enzyme pancreatic amylase, which hydrolyses the polysaccharide into a disaccharide. The small intestine then produces enzymes called lactase, sucrase and maltase, which BREAK down the disaccharides into monosaccharides. The monosaccharides are then absorbed in the small intestine. LARGE INTESTINE (COLON) •Carbohydrates that were not digested and absorbed by the small intestine reach the colon where they are partly BROKEN down by intestinal bacteria. Fiber, which cannot be digested like other carbohydrates, adds bulk to the FECES or gets fermented by the intestinal bacteria.