Composition of human palatine gland secretions and evidence for the presence of specific arylamidases.

After mechanically stimulating the surface of palatine mucosa of adult human subjects, 10-25 microliter of saliva secreted from the openings of the palatine glands were directly collected into graduated glass capillaries. The saliva samples contained large amounts of carbohydrates, sialic acids and hexosamines as a result of the high glycoprotein content of the secretions. The saliva did not show activity from amylase, peroxidase, lysozyme and other typical mixed saliva enzymes, but contained arylamidases at concentrations much higher than mixed saliva from the same subjects.