Carbohydrate SUMMARY
• Carbohydrates are major
constituents of animal food and animal tissues . They are
characterized by the type and number of monosaccharide
residues in their molecules.
• Glucose is the most important
carbohydrate in mammalianbiochemistry because nearly all carbohydrate in food is converted to glucose
for metabolism.
• Sugars have large numbers of
stereoisomers because they contain several asymmetric
carbon atoms.
• The monosaccharides include
glucose, the “blood sugar”; and ribose, an important
constituent of nucleotides and nucleic acids. The disaccharides include maltose
(glucosyl glucose), an intermediate in the digestion
of starch; sucrose (glucosyl fructose), important as
a dietary constituent containing fructose; and lactose
(galactosyl glucose) , in milk .
• Starch and glycogen are storage
polymers of glucose in plants and animals,
respectively. Starch is the major source of energy in the
diet.
• Complex carbohydrates contain
other sugar derivatives such as amino sugars, uronic
acids, and sialic acids. They include proteoglycans
and glycosaminoglycans, associated with structural
elements of the tissues; and glycoproteins, proteins
containing attached
oligosaccharide chains. They are
found in many situations including the cell membrane.
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