OCCURRENCE, STRUCTURE AND BIOLOGICAL FUNCTION OF

POLYSACCHARIDES

 Polysaccharides are non-sugars that yield more than ten monosaccharide molecules
on hydrolysis.
 They do not have sweet taste
 They have high molecular weight
 They are amorphous substance and insoluble in water
 They form colloidal substance when heated with water.
 Several monoccharides combines together by glycosidic linkage and produce
polysaccharides.
 They do not exhibit any properties of aldehyde or keto groups.
 (C6H10O5)n is their general chemical formula.
 Polysaccharides are two types, namely,

1) Homopolysaccharides (homoglycans): Polymer of same monosaccharide units.

Examples—Starch, glycogen, inulin, cellulose, dextrins, and dextrans.
2) Heteropolysaccharides (heteroglycans): Polymer of different monosaccharide
units or their derivatives Examples – hyaluronic acid, heparin, and chondroitin
sulphate.
 The homopolysaccharides are of two types:
1) Storage polysaccharide (E.g. starch in plants and glycogen in animals). It
contains only α-D glucose units.
2) Structural polysaccharide (E.g. Cellulose in palnts and chitin in animals). It
contains only β-D glucose units.

STARCH

• It is a homopolysaccharide.
• It is a non sugar
• It yields glucose on complete hydrolysis
• It is a white amorphous, insoluble and tasteless
 Occurrence: It is stored food material in plants. Found in potatoes, cereals such as
rice, wheat, oat, barley and legumes such as beans, pea and lentils.
• Starch has two components: a. amylase, b. amylopectin.
Amylose:
 Amylose makes up 20% of starch.
 It is a long unbranched chain with 200–2,000 D-glucose units held by α (1→4)
glycosidic linkages.
 It is water soluble.

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 The enzyme amylase breaks the α (1→4) glycosodic linkages in amylose and produce
maltose.
 It gives blue coilour with iodine. The amylose chain is in the form of a helix; each
turn has 6 glucose units.
Amylopectin;
 Amylose makes up 80% of starch.
 It is a branched chain with 2000–2,0000 D-glucose units held by α (1→4) and
barnching α (1→6) glycosodic linkages present in every 20 -25 glucose units.
 It is insoluble in water.
 The enzyme amylase breaks the α (1→4) and α (1→6) glycosodic linkages that
yields isomaltose.
 It gives purple colour with iodine.

Functions

 Starch is a important reserve food material in plants

 It is produced by photosynthesis and consumed by animals
 It is storage form of glucose and serves as important fuel for living organisms.
 When we consume starch, our digestive system breaks it down into glucose units for use
by our bodies

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 • During fruit ripening, starch undergoes hydrolysis of the α(1→4) bonds to produce
glucose and maltose, which are sweet.
.
GLYCOGEN

• Glycogen is a storage polysaccharide found in animals. Hence it is called as animal

starch.
• The structure of glycogen is similar to that of amylopectin with more number of
branches.
• It produce red colour with iodine
• It differs with amylopectin in molecular weight and degree of branching.
• It is highly branched than amylopectin. Branching occurs at every 8-10 glucose units.
• Occurrence: Glycogen is stored in the live, muscles and brain.
• It is a branched chain polysaccharide and resembles amylopectin, except thatα(1→6)
branching occurs about every 12 glucose units.
Structure

Functions

• Glycogen is a storage polysaccharide found in animals. Hence it is called as animal

starch.

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 • The blood always consist 1% of glucose to supply energy. Excess of glucose is stored as
glycogen in liver and muscle. This process is known as glycogenesis.
• The stored glycogen is hydrolyzed into glucose units during fasting condition. This is
known as glycogenolysis.
• Glucose is the chief source of energy and it can be obtained from glycogen.
• The blood glucose is regulated by glycogenesis and glycogenolysis.
• Glycogen serves as the buffer to maintain blood glucose level.

CELLULOSE

• It is a non sugar and homopolysaccharides

• It is composed of β-D glucose units
• The glucose units are linked by b(1→4) glycosidic bond.
• Occurrence: Cellulose is the most abundant organic substance present in the plant
kingdom. It is the main constituent of call walls of plant. Whole grains are a good
source of cellulose and also occurs in lignin and cotton.
Structure

• The molecular weight ranges between 2,00,000 to 20,00,000

• It contains 1,200 to 12,500 glucose units per molecule.
• It is not easily hydrolyzed. It is hydrolyzed to glucose by con. sulphuric acid or sodium
hydroxide.
• It does not give colour with iodine
• The chain of glucose units is straight.
Biological Importance
• Cellulose is an insoluble fiber in our diet because we lack the enzyme cellulase to
hydrolyze the b(1→4) glycosidic bond.
• Cellulose is important in our diet because it assists with digestive movement in the
small and large intestine.
• Some animals and insects can digest cellulose because they contain bacteria that produce
cellulase.
• Cellulose, though not digested, has great importance in human nutrition. It is a major
constituent of fiber, the non-digestable carbohydrate. The functions of dietary fiber

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 include decreasing the absorption of glucose and cholesterol from the intestine, besides
increasing the bulk of feces.

CHITIN

 It is an important polysaccharide of invertebrates

 It is formed of many units of N-acetyl glucosamine linked by β 1,4-linkage
 It is related to cellulose. The alcoholic OH group on carbon atom 2 to β-D-glucose units
is replaced by N-acetyl amino group.
 Occurrence: It is found in the exoskeleton of insects and cellwalls of fungi
 On hydrolysis with minerals acids it gives glucosamine and acetic acid
 Chitin is decomposed to N-acetyl glucosamine by chitinase present in the gastric juice of
snails or form bacteria.

Structure

HETEROPOLYSACCHARIDES

 Heteropolysaccharides are composed of a mixture of monosaccharides. On hydrolysis

they yield mixture of monosaccharides.
 They are composed of a mixture of sugars as well as derivatives of sugars such as amino
sugars, uronic acids etc.
 They are igh molecular eight upto 5 million.
 They found in extracellular material

HYALURONIC ACID

 Hyaluronic acid is a heteroploysaccharides

 Occurrence: It is found in the skin, vitreous body of the eye, the umbilical card, as a
coating around ovum, synovial fluids of joints and in some bacteria.
 It is highly viscous substance and it has a molecular weight of 50,00,000

Biological functions

 It acts as a lubricant and as a biological cement in connective tissues

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  It is a straight chain polymer of disaccharides which form the repeating unit. Each
disaccharide unit is formed of a D-glucuronic acid and N acetyl D-glucosamine linked by
β1,3,λ linkage.
 Each disaccharide is linked to the next by a β 1,4 glycosidic bond
 On hydrolysis, hyaluronic acid yields an equimolar mixture of D-glucuronic acid,
glucosamine and acetic acid
 Hyaluronic acid is split by the enzyme hyaluronidase. The sperm is rich in hyaluronidase
and hence travel in the cervical canal to frtilize the ovum.

Structure

HEPARIN

• Heparin is a heteropolysaccharide
• It is a mucopolysaccharide because it has gel like consistency.
• Occurrence: Present in liver, lungs, arterial walls, spleen, kidney and intestinal mucosa.
Only GAG present intracellular.In granules of mast cells and also in lung, liver and skin
• It is strongly acidic due to presence of more sulfate group
Biological Importance
• It is an anticoagulant (prevents blood clotting). It prevents the conversion of prothrombin
to thrombin traight chain polymer of D-glucuronic acid s sulfate and D-glucosamine N-
sulfate.

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BIOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS OF POLYSACCHARIDES

 Starch is a important reserve food material in plants

 Glycogen is a storage polysaccharide found in animals. Hence it is called as animal
starch.
 Glycogen serves as the buffer to maintain blood glucose level.
 Cellulose is an insoluble fiber in our diet because we lack the enzyme cellulase to
hydrolyze the b(1→4) glycosidic bond.
 Chitin is an important polysaccharide of invertebrates
 Hyaluronic acid is acts as a lubricant and as a biological cement in connective tissues
 Heparin is an anticoagulant (prevents blood clotting).