CARBOHYDRATES: THE HYDRATES OF CARBON
Now everyone knows that Carbohydrates are composed of Carbons and Water ( Hydrogen and Oxygen).
Carbohydrates are the main source of ENERGY!
Can be used as Storage in plants it is stored as Starch in animals it is called Glycogen.
The key element for Structure in cells for eg. Cellulose in Plant Cells, Chitin in the Exoskeleton on some insects etc.
And finally something called Precursor Molecules?
You may be wondering what is that!!!!
Carbohydrates are Precursor Molecules for the synthesis of useful biomolecular polymers. For example these sugars (carbohydrates) are part of our DNA.
Now as we know Carbohydrates are our main source of energy (mind you not the only!) but its pretty important. These structures can be grouped into 4 major groups. They are:
- Monosaccharides – these consists of simple sugars with multiple hydroxyl groups (OH) and they are named based on the # of Carbons present for eg. Triose contains 3 Carbons.
- Disaccharides- when 2 monosaccharides are linked covalently.
- Oligosaccharides- when a few monosaccharides are covalently linked.
- Polysaccharides- these are normally chains of monosaccharide units linked to form a large structure.
The simplest sugar that i know of is Glucose. (Hexose sugar because it contains 6 Carbons)
Credits to Biochem students Carlos, Shenelle, Liniker, Latisha, et. al
Glucose is needed by the brain and nervous system because they wouldn’t normally synthesize other sources of energy for eg Fats. In a case where all the glucose is used up the body begins to break down Ketone Bodies which is able to supply the necessarily cells.
Not all Carbohydrates are good! Some can be EMPTY CALORIES, this means that they contain calories without much or no nutritional value.
0 comments:
Post a Comment