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Carbohydrate metabolism is the whole of the biochemical processes responsible for the metabolic formation, breakdown, and interconversion of carbohydrates in living organisms. Carbohydrates are central to many essential metabolic pathways . [ 1 ]
Carbohydrase is the name of a set of enzymes that catalyze five types of reactions, turning carbohydrates into simple sugars, from the large family of glycosidases. [1] Carbohydrases are produced in the pancreas, salivary glands and small intestine, breaking down polysaccharides.
Lactose is a disaccharide found in animal milk. It consists of a molecule of D-galactose and a molecule of D-glucose bonded by beta-1-4 glycosidic linkage.. A carbohydrate (/ ˌ k ɑːr b oʊ ˈ h aɪ d r eɪ t /) is a biomolecule consisting of carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) atoms, usually with a hydrogen–oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 (as in water) and thus with the empirical formula C m ...
Carbohydrates can generally be classified into one of two groups, monosacharides, and complex carbohydrates.Monosacharides (also called "simple sugars") are the simplest single units of any carbohydrate; the most common monosaccharides are five and six carbon compounds such as glucose, fructose, and galactose. [2]
Disaccharides are a type of carbohydrate. Disaccharides consist of compound sugars containing two monosaccharides with the elimination of a water molecule with the general chemical structure C12H22O11. Oligosaccharides are carbohydrates that consist of a polymer that contains three to ten monosaccharides linked together by glycosidic bonds.
Even if all three component sugars are the same (e.g., glucose), different bond combinations (regiochemistry) and stereochemistry (alpha- or beta-) result in trisaccharides that are diastereoisomers with different chemical and physical properties.
Even though these complex polysaccharides are not very digestible, they provide important dietary elements for humans. Called dietary fiber , these carbohydrates enhance digestion. The main action of dietary fiber is to change the nature of the contents of the gastrointestinal tract and how other nutrients and chemicals are absorbed.
Glycosaminoglycans [1] (GAGs) or mucopolysaccharides [2] are long, linear polysaccharides consisting of repeating disaccharide units (i.e. two-sugar units). The repeating two-sugar unit consists of a uronic sugar and an amino sugar, except in the case of the sulfated glycosaminoglycan keratan, where, in place of the uronic sugar there is a ...