Basics of Biochemistry

Dr. Mohana Marimuthu

Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan University
Samayapuram, Trichy

24 January 2023
What Is Biochemistry?
 The word ‘BIOCHEMISTRY’- means -Chemistry of
Living beings or Chemical Basis of Life.

Carbohydrates (Hydrates of carbon) are chemically

defined as polyhydroxy aldehydes or ketones, their
derivatives and their polymers.
 “Life” in Biochemistry point of view is:

• Hundreds of Biochemical reactions and

Biochemical processes

• Occurring in sub cellular organelles of a cell

in an organized manner.
• Biochemistry is the application of chemistry to the study of biological
processes at the cellular and molecular level.

• It emerged as a distinct discipline around the beginning of the 20th century

when scientists combined chemistry, physiology and biology to investigate the
chemistry of living systems by:

A. Studying the structure and behavior of the complex molecules found in

biological material and
B. the ways these molecules interact to form cells, tissues and whole
organism
C. Biochemistry has become the foundation for understanding all biological
processes. It has provided explanations for the causes of many diseases in
humans, animals and plants.
Historical Developments
of
Biochemistry
• Biochemistry emerged in the late 18th and early 19th
century.

• The term Biochemistry was first introduced by the

German Chemist Carl Neuberg in 1903.

• In the 1940s Clinical Biochemistry evolved, as an

autonomous field.
 S.No Pioneer Workers Discovery/Work

1 Berzilus Enzymes Catalysis

2 Edward Buchner Enzyme Extraction

3 Louis Pasteur Fermentation Process

4 Lohmann Role of Creatine PO4 in

muscles
5 Hans Kreb TCA Cycle

6 Banting and Macleod Insulin

7 Fiske and Subbarow Role of ATPs

 S.No Pioneer Worker Discovery/Work

8 Watson and Crick Double Stranded DNA

9 Landsteiner Protein Structure

10 Peter Mitchell Oxidative
Phosphorylation
11 Nirenberg Genetic Code on mRNA

12 Paul Berg Recombinant DNA

Technology
13 Karry Mullis Polymerase Chain
Reaction
14 Khorana Synthesized Gene
Principles of Biochemistry

• Cells (basic structural units of living organisms) are highly organized and
constant source of energy is required to maintain the ordered state.

• Living processes contains thousands of chemical reactions. Precise regulation

and integration of these reactions are required to maintain life

• Certain important reactions E.g. Glycolysis is found in almost all organisms.

• All organisms use the same type of molecules: Carbohydrates, proteins, lipids
& nucleic acids.

• Instructions for growth, reproduction and developments for each organism is

encoded in their DNA
• Study of various Biochemical constituents of cell:
(Chemistry, properties , functions, metabolism and
related disorders).
① Carbohydrates
② Lipids
③ Amino acids
④ Proteins
⑤ Nucleic Acids
⑥ Enzymes, etc.,
Occurrence and Importance
• The carbohydrates comprise one of the major groups of naturally occurring biomolecules. This is
mainly because; the light energy from the sun is converted into chemical energy by plants through
primary production and is transferred to sugars and carbohydrate derivatives.

• The dry substance of plants is composed of 50-80% of carbohydrates. The structural material in plants
is mainly cellulose and related hemicelluloses.

• Starch is the important form of storage polysaccharide in plants.

• Pectins and sugars such as sucrose and glucose are also plant constituents.

• Many non-carbohydrate organic molecules are found conjugated with sugars in the form of
glycosides.
Occurrence and Importance
• The carbohydrates in animals are mostly found in combination with proteins as glycoproteins, as
well as other compounds.

• The storage form of carbohydrates, glycogen, found in liver and muscles, the blood group
substances, mucins, ground substance between cells in the form of mucopolysaccharides are
few examples of carbohydrates playing important roles in animals.

• Chitin found in the exo-skeleton of lower animals, is a polymer of N-acetyl glucosamine.

Occurrence and Importance
• Carbohydrates are also universally found in other polymeric substances. Forexample,
o Fats are fatty acid esters of a sugar alcohol, glycerol.
o Ribose and deoxyribose are constituent of nucleic acids.
• Moreover, in all living forms, the energy needed for mechanical work and chemical
reactions are derived from carbohydrates.
- Adenosine triphosphate and related substances that contain ribose as a constituent are
key substances in energy storage and transfer.
- The carbon skeletons of almost all organic molecules are derived from
carbohydrates.
• Besides, the carbohydrates are the basic raw material of many important industries
including sugar and sugar products, starch products, paper and wood pulp, textiles,
plastics, food processing and fermentation.
Carbohydrates
• Carbohydrates most abundant organic molecule
found in nature.

• Carbohydrates serves as primary source of energy.

• Initially synthesized in plants from a complex series

of reactions involving photosynthesis.
• Basic unit is monosaccharides.
 Classification of carbohydrates
• Based on number of sugar units:

Monosachcarides Single sugar unit

Disaccharides Two sugar units
Trisachcarides Three sugar units
Oligosaccharides up to 9 sugar units
Polysaccharides > 10 sugar units

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Classification of carbohydrates

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Classification of carbohydrates

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 Monosaccharides
• Monosaccharides are the simplest form that cannot be hydrolyzed further into
smaller units.
• They are classified into
a) simple monosaccharides
b) derived monosaccharides
• Simple monosaccharides are further classified based on
- the type of functional group and
- the number of carbon atoms they possess.
• Derived monosaccharides include the derivatives of simple monosaccharides
such as oxidation products, reduction products, substitution products and esters
 Oligosaccharides
• They contain two to ten monosaccharide units joined by glycosidic
linkages that can be easily hydrolyzed.
 Polysaccharides
• They are high molecular weight polymers containing more than ten monosaccharides. They are
either linear or branched in structure.
• Polysaccharides are further classified based on
a) the kind of monosaccharides present as:
Homopolysaccharides when made from a single kind of monosaccharide.
Ex. starch, cellulose, inulin, glycogen, chitin
b) Heteropolysaccharides are made up of more than one type of monosaccharides.
Ex. Hemicellulose, Mucopolysaccharides – Chondroitin sulphate, Hyaluronic acid Heparin
and Keratan sulphate
b) functional aspect as:
• Storage Polysaccharide eg. Starch, glycogen, inulin, Galactomannan
• Structural Polysaccharide eg. Cellulose, Chitin, Hemicellulose
Classes of Carbohydrates,

Polysaccharides are large molecules containing 10 or more

monosaccharide units. Carbohydrate units are connected in one
continuous chain or the chain can be branched.

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