Research conducted in India and reported in the International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition demonstrates that some common spices or their active principles could influence digestive enzymes in a positive way.

Dietary curcumin, capsaicin, piperine and ginger prominantly enhanced intestinal lipase activity and also the disaccharidases sucrase and maltase. Dietary cumin, fenugreek, mustard and asafoetida brought about decreases in the levels of phosphatases and sucrase. The positive influences of a good number of spices on these terminal enzymes of digestive process could be an additional feature of spices that are generally well recognized to stimulate digestion.

The animals were fed the following diets for 8 weeks: control, curcumin (0.5%), capsaicin (15mg%), piperine (20mg%), ginger (50mg%), cumin (1.25%), fenugreek (2%), mustard (250mg%) and asafoetida (250mg%).

International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition, Volume 47, Issue 1 January 1996 , pages 55 – 59
Influence of dietary spices or their active principles on digestive enzymes of small intestinal mucosa in rats
Authors: Kalpana Platel ; K. Srinivasan
Affiliation: Department of Biochemistry & Nutrition, Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore, India