You Are Tending to a 27-Year-Old Woman Whose Chief Complaint

You are tending to a 27-year-old woman whose chief complaint is that she can no longer taste sweetness in food, particularly fruits. You suspect that she may have a defect or disease of her tongue but physical examination as well as a small tissue biopsy show no anomalies. You order an assay of her saliva because you suspect she may have a defect in the secretion of which of the following enzymes?

A) a-amylase
B) haptocorrin
C) lingual lipase
D) lysozyme
E) mucin