Kinetic characterisation of ene-diol-based inhibitors of α-amylase

A kinetic analysis of the inhibition of malt α-amylase by compounds based on ascorbic acid has shown the mode of inhibition to be competitive for the parent compound, but more complex for its derivatives. We have further simplified the ascorbic acid ene-diol pharmacophore by demonstrating that dihydroxyfumaric acid is also a good inhibitor of malt α-amylase.