Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Pure starch is a white, tasteless and odorless powder that is insoluble in cold water or alcohol. It consists of two types of molecules: the linear and helical amylose and the branched amylopectin. Depending on the plant, starch generally contains 20 to 25% amylose and 75 to 80% amylopectin by weight. [4]
The term "carbohydrate" (or "carbohydrate by difference") refers also to dietary fiber, which is a carbohydrate, but, unlike sugars and starches, fibers are not hydrolyzed by human digestive enzymes. [5] Fiber generally contributes little food energy in humans, but is often included in the calculation of total food energy. The fermentation of ...
These polysaccharides are also made from multiple subunits of glucose. The difference between cellulose and other complex carbohydrate molecules is how the glucose molecules are linked together. In addition, cellulose is a straight chain polymer, and each cellulose molecule is long and rod-like. This differs from starch, which is a coiled molecule.
Carbohydrates are typically stored as long polymers of glucose molecules with glycosidic bonds for structural support (e.g. chitin, cellulose) or for energy storage (e.g. glycogen, starch). However, the strong affinity of most carbohydrates for water makes storage of large quantities of carbohydrates inefficient due to the large molecular ...
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 .
Glycogen is analogous to starch, a glucose polymer in plants, and is sometimes referred to as animal starch, [16] having a similar structure to amylopectin but more extensively branched and compact than starch. Glycogen is a polymer of α(1→4) glycosidic bonds linked with α(1→6)-linked branches.
Dextrins are a group of low-molecular-weight carbohydrates produced by the hydrolysis of starch [1] and glycogen. [2] Dextrins are mixtures of polymers of D-glucose units linked by α-(1→4) or α-(1→6) glycosidic bonds.
The most common macromolecules in biochemistry are biopolymers (nucleic acids, proteins, and carbohydrates) and large non-polymeric molecules such as lipids, nanogels and macrocycles. [1] Synthetic fibers and experimental materials such as carbon nanotubes [ 2 ] [ 3 ] are also examples of macromolecules.