Amylase digests starch, and modern humans have up to 20 copies of the gene for this. This is many more than other primates and also Neanderthals and Denisovians (2 copies) which would suggest starch is an important part of our diet. As the article below says:
"In fact, there is evidence that this gene was strongly selected for as early as the middle Pleistocene, when modern humans emerged"
