BASIS OF COMPARISON

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES

LINKAGES

UPON HYDROLYSIS

REDUCING ACTION

FERMENTATION

TYPES and EXAMPLES

GENERAL FORMULA DIAGRAMMATIC REPRESENTATION

CLASSIFICATION OF CARBOHYDRATES Monosaccharides Oligosaccharides Polysaccharides white crystalline solids amorphous sweet in taste have little or no flavour soluble in water have high molecular weights optically active (they can rotate the plane of polarized causing them to form colloidal light) dispersions (starch) or are insoluble (cellulose) presence of assymetric carbons in the molecule made from an aldehyde group of one monosaccharide to the straight-chain joined together through ketone or hydroxyl group of the formations glucoside linkage other or joined by an O-glycosidic bond undergo hydrolysis yielding two to ten molecules of monosaccharide for each simplest molecule of disaccharide undergo complete hydrolysis carbohydrates that TYPES: yielding a large number of cannot be a. Disaccharides molecules of monosaccharide hydrolysed - 2 saccharide units b. Trisaccharides - 3 saccharide units capable of reducing action due to a free aldehyde or ketone group Simple sugars except for galactose and lactose are Except for lactose have to be hydrolysed to monosaccharides before they can be fermented fermented by the enzyme, zymase, present in yeast a. Functional Group aldehyde group: a. Disaccharides aldose sucrose: glucose + fructose starch ketone group: ketose lactose: glucose + galactose glycogen maltose: glucose + glucose dextrin b. No. of C atoms in cellulose a molecule b. Trisaccharides pectins 3C: triose raffinose: glucose + galactose + 4C: tetrose fructose 5C: pentose 6C: hexose (CH2O)n C12H22O11 Cx(H2O)n when n=3 to 7

CHEMICAL PROPERTIES

Physiologic Importance of Knowing Class of Carbohydrates (a) Carbohydrates Supply Energy The body uses carbohydrates directly from the monosaccharide glucose. Glucose is in the blood and extracellular fluids (lymph) and can be made from glycogen. Glycogen is stored in the liver and muscles and in smaller amounts in the other organs and tissues of the body. Energy is derived from glucose by the splitting of the glucose molecules into smaller compounds and oxidizing these to form water, which frees quite a large amount of energy. When carbohydrates needed for the functioning of the central nervous system, the muscles and the other body systems and functions are insufficient in the, stored adipose tissue (fat) is broken down into glucose to make up the caloric deficit. Some amino acids, instead of being used to make proteins, are deaminated and used as carbohydrates to supply energy. The formation of glucose from amino acids is called gluconeogenesis. This phenomenon enables one to maintain normal blood sugar levels during a fast. (b) Carbohydrates Provide Fuel for the Central Nervous System Nerve cells are very dependent upon glucose for their functioning. The cells of the central nervous system adapt their metabolic apparatus to use ketone bodies in place of glucose. The nerve cells obtain their needed functional energy from these metabolites. This explains why patients with blood sugar problems (diabetes or hypoglycemia) do not suffer ill effects during a fast. In fact, they benefit by fasting. (c) Carbohydrates Provide Fuel for the Muscular System Carbohydrates provide the major fuel for muscular exercise. The muscles use the glycogen present in the muscle cells and glucose in the bloodstream. However, glycogen from the muscles is more efficiently used than glucose because the breakdown of glycogen for use does not require energy input at the time, whereas a certain amount of energy is used to bring the blood sugar into the metabolic system of the muscles. (d) Carbohydrates Supposedly Spare Proteins Carbohydrates simply furnish our fuel or energy needs. Carbohydrates are the primary and most efficient source of energy or fuel and that it is best not to try to meet our fuel needs from proteins. It is stating the true fact that carbohydrates, not proteins, supply our primary nutrient needs. In short, the so-called "protein-sparing action" of carbohydrates is not only an action, but sparing proteins is not a distinct role of carbohydrates separate from their energy-providing role. (e) Carbohydrates Supposedly Supply "Dietary Fiber" "Dietary fiber" is a fairly new term coined to describe the cellulose inside plant cells. Cellulose is known to be indigestible by humans, though it is digested and used for energy by herbivores. The claims made about "the beneficial role of dietary fiber in preventing diseases" are so popular and so widely made that they are practically accepted as fact. However, cellulose, though in fact a carbohydrate because it is utilized as such by herbivores, does not serve the role of a carbohydrate in human physiology. Because it cannot be digested and utilized by humans, it cannot provide us with energyand providing energy is the only role of carbohydrates in human nutrition.