Hydrolysis

Hydrolysis (/haɪˈdrɒlᵻsɪs/; fromGreek hydro-, meaning "water",and lysis, meaning "to unbind") usually means the cleavage of chemical bonds by the addition of water. When a carbohydrate is broken into its component sugar molecules by hydrolysis (e.g. sucrose being broken down into glucose and fructose), this is termed saccharification. Generally, hydrolysis or saccharification is a step in the degradation of a substance.