In enzymology, a phloretin hydrolase is an enzyme

Enzyme

Enzymes are proteins that catalyze chemical reactions. In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process, called substrates, are converted into different molecules, called products. Almost all chemical reactions in a biological cell need enzymes in order to occur at rates...

 that catalyzes

Catalysis

Catalysis is the change in rate of a chemical reaction due to the participation of a substance called a catalyst. Unlike other reagents that participate in the chemical reaction, a catalyst is not consumed by the reaction itself. A catalyst may participate in multiple chemical transformations....

 the chemical reaction

Chemical reaction

A chemical reaction is a process that leads to the transformation of one set of chemical substances to another. Chemical reactions can be either spontaneous, requiring no input of energy, or non-spontaneous, typically following the input of some type of energy, such as heat, light or electricity...

phloretin + H₂O phloretate + phloroglucinol

Thus, the two substrates

Substrate (biochemistry)

In biochemistry, a substrate is a molecule upon which an enzyme acts. Enzymes catalyze chemical reactions involving the substrate. In the case of a single substrate, the substrate binds with the enzyme active site, and an enzyme-substrate complex is formed. The substrate is transformed into one or...

 of this enzyme are phloretin

Phloretin

Phloretin is a dihydrochalcone, a type of natural phenols. It is the phloroglucin ester of paraoxyhydratropic acid. It can be found in apple tree leaves.-Metabolism:Phloretin hydrolase uses phloretin and water to produce phloretate and phloroglucinol....

 and H₂O

Water

Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...

, whereas its two products

Product (chemistry)

Product are formed during chemical reactions as reagents are consumed. Products have lower energy than the reagents and are produced during the reaction according to the second law of thermodynamics. The released energy comes from changes in chemical bonds between atoms in reagent molecules and...

 are phloretate and phloroglucinol

Phloroglucinol

Phloroglucinol is a benzenetriol. It is an organic compound that is used in the synthesis of pharmaceuticals and explosives. This molecule exists in two forms, or tautomers, 1,3,5-trihydroxybenzene, which has phenol-like, and 1,3,5-cyclohexanetrione , which has ketone-like character. These two...

.

This enzyme belongs to the family of hydrolase

Hydrolase

In biochemistry, a hydrolase is an enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of a chemical bond. For example, an enzyme that catalyzed the following reaction is a hydrolase:-Nomenclature:...

s, specifically those acting on carbon-carbon bonds in ketonic substances. The systematic name of this enzyme class is 2',4,4',6'-tetrahydroxydehydrochalcone 1,3,5-trihydroxybenzenehydrolase. This enzyme is also called lactase-phlorizin hydrolase.