Types of Carbohydrates: Polyhydroxy aldehydes or ketones, or complex substances which yield Polyhydroxy aldehyde or ketone subunit on hydrolysis are called “Carbohydrates”.
Hydrolysis means the breakdown of large molecules into small molecules by using water. Carbohydrates are composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. The word carbohydrates literally means, “Hydrated Carbons”. The ration of hydrogen and oxygen is the same, as in water, i.e. 2:1. The number of carbon may be from three to many thousand.
Carbohydrates occur abundantly in living organisms. They are found in an organism and in almost all parts of the cell. The cellulose of wood, cotton, and paper, starches present in cereals, root tubers, cane sugar, and milk are all examples of carbohydrates. Carbohydrates play both structural and functional roles. Simple carbohydrates are the main source of energy in cells. Some carbohydrates are the main constituents of cell walls in plants and micro-organisms.
Carbohydrates in cells combine with proteins and lipids and the resultant compounds are called glycoproteins, respectively. Glycoproteins and glycolipids have a structural role in the extracellular matrix of animals and bacterial cell walls. Both these conjugated molecules are components of biological membranes.
Carbohydrates are also called ‘saccharides’. The word saccharide is derived from the Greek word ‘saccharin’. It means sugar. Saccharide is taken as a unit (monomer) of carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are classified into three groups:
They show the following characters:
Monosaccharides with 3 to 7 carbon atoms are found in nature. They are called trioses (3C), tetroses (4C), hexoses (6C), and heptoses (7C). They have a general formula. There are following types of monosaccharides:
They have three carbons. Two trioses are aldehydes (glyceraldehydes) and ketones (dihydroxyacetone). These are produced as intermediate compounds during respiration and photosynthesis.
They have four carbons. Tetroses are rare in nature. They occur in some bacteria.
They have five carbons. Ribose Sugar is a common pentose. It is an Aldo sugar. It gives five cornered ring structures in solution form. This ring is called a ribofuranose. It is present in ribonucleic acid RNA. Deoxyribose is also a pentose sugar. It is found in DNA.
They have six carbons. For example, Glucose.
Glucose is a hexose sugar. It is the most important biological compound. It is an Aldo sugar. It forms a six-cornered ring in solution. This ring is called the glucopyranoses.
Glucose is naturally produced in green plants. They take from the air and water from the soil to synthesize glucose.
Energy is consumed in this process, this energy is provided by sunlight. This process is called photosynthesis. 717.6 Kcal of solar energy is required for the synthesis of 10g of glucose. The energy is stored in glucose as chemical energy. During oxidation (respiration) of glucose, this energy is released in the body of the organisms and used in different activities.
Glucose has great biological importance.
Oligosaccharides show the following characteristics:
The covalent bond formed between two monosaccharides is called Glycosidic Bond. The oligosaccharides may be:
The oligosaccharides which give two monosaccharides are called disaccharides.
The oligosaccharides which give three monosaccharides are called Trisaccharides and so on.
Maltose, Sucrose, and Lactose are physiologically important disaccharides. The most common disaccharide is sucrose (Sugar Cane). Sucrose gives glucose and fructose on hydrolysis. These two are reducing (release H or absorb Oxygen) sugars. The molecular formula of sucrose is.
Polysaccharides show the following characteristics:
Some biologically important polysaccharides are starch, glycogen, cellulose, dextrin, agar, pectin, and chitin.
Sources of Carbohydrates are green plants. Carbohydrates are primary products of photosynthesis. Other components of plants are produced from carbohydrates by different chemical changes.
Carbohydrates occur abundantly in living organisms. They have the following importance:
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