CARBOHYDRATES - KEY NOTES

Contain Elements: Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen.

Biological
Importance
Energy Source
Structural
Compounds

Carbohydrates are principal respiratory substrates

Storage Compounds

Plants, Starch (common plant storage never in animals) Animals.

Glycogen (e.g. mammalian liver)

Cellulose (CW of all plant cells) & Lignin

CLASSIFICATION: The basic sugar unit = the saccharide

1 sugar unit = Monosaccaride

2 sugar units = Disaccharide

Many sugar units = Polysaccharide

MONOSACCHARIDES
Examples of Monosaccharides: Glucose, Ribose
General There are the building blocks of other important C/Hs
Monosaccharides are:

Sweet tasting

Soluble in water

Reducing sugars (see below)

Reducing Sugar Properties (all monosaccharides are reducing sugars). M/S are
capable of REDUCING benedicts solution. When this reduction occurs benedicts
solution changes from blue to orange/red.

DISACCHARIDES
Examples of D/S: Maltose (Malt sugar), Lactose (milk sugar)

Maltose formed by CONDENSATION of 2 units of glucose, the bond is called a

glycosidic bond.
Note: In the exam you could be given half of the reaction below and asked to fill
in the other half - you wouldn't be asked to come up with it all off the top of your
head

2 molecules of glucose

+
Undergo a condensation reaction to form

+
H2 O
Maltose and Water
General Summary of disaccharides

May be non-reducing

Sweet tasting

Water soluble

POLYSACCHARIDES
Examples of P/S: Starch, Glycogen, Cellulose
These are an important group of carbohydrates. Two main divisions:

Structural Polysaccharides e.g. Cellulose, Chitin, Lignin (wood)

Storage Polysaccharides e.g. Starch and Glycogen

General Properties of P/S

Non sweet tasting

Non truly soluble in H2O

Structural P/S
In these polysaccharides the sugar unit residues present in long chain molecules of the
polymer are straight, and cross-linkages between chains occur giving the material its
strength.

back

home