The half-lives for spontaneous hydrolysis of trehalose and sucrose at 25 degrees C are 6.6 x 10(6) years and 440 years. The half-lives for decomposition of the hydrolysis products glucose and fructose are 96 years and 70 days, respectively. Whereas sucrose and trehalose differ by a factor of 15000 in their rates of uncatalyzed hydrolysis, the reactions catalyzed by invertase (EC 3.2.1.26) and trehalase (EC 3.2.1.28) proceed at similar rates. Accordingly, the attainments of invertase as a catalyst are modest, but the rate enhancement and catalytic proficiency produced by trehalase approach the high levels achieved by polysaccharide hydrolases.