Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index In animals, saliva is produced in and secreted from the salivary glands. It is a fluid containing: water electrolytes mucus and various enzymes. In human saliva, amylase starts the digestion of starch before the food is even swallowed. see also digestive system A common misconception is that saliva contained in the mouth has natural disinfectants, which leads people to believe it is beneficial to "lick their wounds". Researchers at the University of Florida at Gainesville have discovered a protein called Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) in the saliva of mice. Wounds doused with NGF healed twice as fast as untreated, unlicked wounds. So in a few species, at least, saliva does have some curative powers. NGF has not been found in human saliva, but researchers do note that human spit contains such antibacterial agents as secretory IgA, lactoferrin, and lactoperoxidase. It has however not yet been shown that licking your wounds actually disinfects them. Also a name of a band. See Saliva (band) This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.