TASK 7: Self-Reflection on Carbohydrates

Students should give self-reflection on different types of carbohydrates and their functions in their daily life.

CARBOHYDRATES

- consists of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.

-produced through carbon dioxide fixation during photosynthesis.

-basic units of carbohydrates are called monosaccharides.

-polymers of monosaccharides are called polysaccharides.

Carbohydrates functions as:

l Energy storage (glycogen, starch)

l Cellulose component (cellulose, chitin)

l Cellular recognition (glycoprotein, glycolipids)

l Carbohydrates derivatives (DNA, RNA, co-factors)

 

TYPES OF CARBOHYDRATES

Carbohydrates can be divided into 2 main types:

-simple carbohydrates (monosaccharides and disaccharides)

-complex carbohydrates (starch, glycogen, fiber)

Monosaccharides

-simplest carbohydrates

-cannot be hydrolyzed to smaller carbohydrates

-classified according to number of carbon

-examples: glucose, fructose, galactose

 

Monosaccharides are aldoses and ketones with two or more hydroxyl groups.

Monosaccharides aslo exhibits enantiomers, diastereomers and epimers characteristics.

In uncyclized form, monosaccharides acts as reducing agents.

Disaccharides

-made up of two sugars

-examples: maltose, sucrose, lactose

 

Complex carbohydrates

-also called polysaccharides as they contain many sugars.

 

l Glucose and fructose have monosaccharides that can be found in fruits, vegetables, honey and food products like glucose-fructose syrup.

l Sugar or sucrose can be found naturally in sugar beet, sugar cane and fruits.

l Lactose can be found in milk and dairy products.

l Maltose can be found in malt and starch derived from syrups.

 

FUNCTION OF CARBOHYDRATES IN DAILY LIFE

1. Main source of energy

-during digestion,  carbohydrates will be broken down into monosaccharides by digestive enzymes and is directly absorbed into the body.

-glucose is used as the primary source of energy in muscles, brains and other cells as glucose will be used to produce Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) which needed to perform various metabolic tasks.

2. Can provide stored energy

-when glucose is not used directly, body will convert glucose into glycogen, which will be stored in liver and the muscles as a readily available source of energy.

-when glucose is needed, our body will converts the glycogen stored into glucose to maintain a constant blood sugar level especially after doing any physical activities or between meals.