Conjugases

Conjugases is the alternative name for gamma-glutamyl hydrolases, the enzymes that trim glutamyl chains from folates and related compounds. Their claim to nutritional fame is in folate analysis and bioavailability: food folates mostly carry polyglutamate tails that must be clipped to monoglutamates before absorption, and conjugases do the clipping. Analytical chemists add them to release measurable folate from food matrices; physiologists credit intestinal conjugase with making dietary folate usable. It is a small enzyme with an outsized role in one vitamin’s journey from food to bloodstream.