Carbohydrates

Topics will be Covered

❑ Students will be able to describe the:

• Understand the fundamental chemical structure of carbohydrates, including

monosaccharides, disaccharides, and polysaccharides.

• Describe the diverse roles of carbohydrates in biological systems

• Students will be able to distinguish the difference between disaccharide

(Sucrose, Maltase and Lactose).

• Students will be able to distinguish the difference between homo and

heteropolysaccharide.
 General Characteristics of Carbohydrate
• Carbohydrates are the most abundant class of biological molecules on earth

• They are the major source of energy from our diet

• Also called saccharides means sugar (sweet) however, not all carbs are sugars

• The origin of carbohydrates is the photosynthesis in plants

• They are polyhydroxy aldehydes or ketones

• Compounds composed of C, H, and O

• The general formula for most carbohydrate is (CH2O)n.

 Functions of Carbohydrate

• Serve as energy source for both plants and animals.

• Storage form of energy (glycogen-starch).

• Component of DNA and RNA.

• Structural elements of cells and tissues (cellulose).

• Participate in cell –cell recognition.

• Linked to proteins and lipids to form glycoproteins and glycolipids.

 Monosaccharides

• Simple group of carbohydrate known as simple sugars.

• Can't be further hydrolyzed to simpler compounds.

• Sweet in taste.

• Classified by:
1. The number of carbons.

2. Functional group (aldehyde) or (ketone)

Classification of Monosaccharides
Classification of Monosaccharides
Example of Aldotriose & Ketotriose
Isomers and epimers
• Carbohydrate isomers that differ in configuration
around only one specific carbon atom carbonyl
carbon (that is, the aldehyde or keto group)

• Epimers are a specific type of stereoisomer that

differ in the spatial arrangement of atoms at only
one asymmetric carbon atom in a molecule.
Enantiomers
• A special type of isomerism is found in the
pairs of structures that are mirror images of
each other.

• The two members of the pair are designated

as a D- and an L-sugar.

• Majority of the sugars in humans are D-

isomers
Monosaccharide cyclization

• 99 % of monosaccharides with five or more

carbons found in a ring (cyclic) form.

• In which the aldehyde (or keto) group has

reacted with a hydroxyl group on the same
sugar.

• Making the carbonyl carbon (carbon 1 for an

aldose, carbon 2 for a ketose)
 Anomers
• Creation of an anomeric carbon (the former carbonyl carbon) generates a
new pair of isomers, the α and β configurations of the sugar.
• In the α configuration, the –OH group on the anomeric carbon is trans to the
CH2OH group.
• Enzymes are able to distinguish between these two structures.
Reducing sugars
• If the hydroxyl group on the anomeric carbon of a cyclized sugar is not
linked to another compound by a glycosidic bond the sugar can act as
a reducing agent and is termed a reducing sugar.

• All monosaccharides, but not all disaccharides, are reducing sugars.

Common Monosaccharides

1. Glucose Aldohexose

2. Fructose ketohexose

3. Galactose Aldohexose

4. Ribose and Deoxyribose Aldopentoses

 Glucose

• Glucose is an aldohexose sugar with formula (C6H12O6)

• It is the most abundant monosaccharaide. Also called dextrose.

• Known as blood sugar in the body (found in blood stream)

• Provide energy for cells when it is metabolized

• It required no digestion and can be given intravenously to

patients unable to take food by mouth.

• Can be stored as glycogen (polysaccharide).

• Found in fruits, corn syrup, and honey.

 Galactose

• Galactose is an aldohexose sugar

• It is obtained from lactose (the milk sugar)

• Galactose is present in some glycoproteins and glycolipids

• Galactose is an epimer to glucose.

• Galactose can be converted to glucose in the liver by epimerase

enzyme
 Fructose

• Fructose is a ketohexose sugar.

• It is the most soluble and sweetest sugar (approximately twice as

sweet as glucose).

• Fructose is an isomer to glucose (differ in functional group)

• Fructose can be converted to glucose in the liver by isomerase

enzyme.

• It is the sugar of fruits and honey

 Ribose and Deoxyribose

• Ribose and deoxyribose is an aldopentoses

• They are often incorporated with larger

biomolecules such as DNA and RNA.
 Monosaccharide joining
• Monosaccharides can be joined to form disaccharides, oligosaccharides, and
polysaccharides.
➢ Important disaccharides include:
1. Lactose (galactose + glucose)
2. Sucrose (glucose + fructose)
3. Maltose (glucose + glucose)
➢ Important polysaccharides include:
1. Branched glycogen (from animal sources)
2. Starch (plant sources)
3. Unbranched cellulose (plant sources). Each is a polymer of glucose.
 Oligosaccharides
• The most important examples of oligosaccharides are the disaccharides

• They differ in :
1. The type of monosaccharide units

2. The type and the position of glycosidic bond.

 Maltose

• The main constituent of malt and germinating cereals.

• Hydrolyzed by Maltase enzyme in to 2 molecules of α-glucose.

• Has a free anomeric carbon atom, so it is a reducing sugar.

H2O
 Lactose

• The principle sugar of mammalian milk.

• Hydrolyzed by Lactase enzyme into β-galactose and α-glucose.

• Has a free anomeric carbon atom, so it is a reducing sugar.

 Sucrose

• Table sugar and can sugar

• Hydrolyzed by Sucrase enzyme into β-fructose and α-glucose.

• Has bonded anomeric carbon atoms, so it is a non-reducing sugar.

 Polysaccharides
• Consists of large number of monosaccharide units

• Usually amorphous, insoluble in water

• Tasteless and are called non-sugars

Homopolysaccharides
 Starch

• Starch is a polysaccharide found in plants composed of amylose and

amylopectin.
❑ Amylose (10-20%) is a large molecule consisting of unbranched chains
composed of α-1,4 glycosidic linkages.
❑ Amylopectin (80-90%) is a large molecule with branched chains
composed of α-1,4 glycosidic linkages in the main chain and α-1,6
glycosidic linkages at branched points.
 Glycogen

• Glycogen is very large, branched polymer consists of glucose units.

• It Is the energy-storage carbohydrate in animals (in the liver and muscle tissues).
• Glycogen structure composed of α-1,4 glycosidic linkages in the main chain and α-
1,6 glycosidic linkages at branched points.
• Glycogen has a structure similar to starch amylopectin except that it is more
branched with α-1,6-glycosidic linkages
 Cellulose
• The most abundant organic substance found in nature and it is the chief structural
component of plants and wood

• The glucose units in cellulose are joined by β-1,4-glycosidic linkages.

• Cellulose can not be digested by mammals.

• Ruminant animals has the ability to digest cellulose (β- glycosidic bond) since bacteria
that lives in the gut of ruminant animals secretes β-glucosidase which affective in
cellulose hydrolysis.
 Heteropolysaccharides
• Heteropolysaccharides contain two or more different
monosaccharides

• Most naturally occurring heteroglycans contain only two different

ones and are closely associated with lipid or protein:

1. Mucopolysaccharides (Glycosaminoglycans)

2. Glycoproteins:

3. Glycolipid