Scribd
Upload
4 views9 pages

Understanding Polysaccharides and Their Roles

Polysaccharides, such as starch, cellulose, and glycogen, are large carbohydrates made of monosaccharide units and serve as food storage or structural materials. Starch is the primary storage polysaccharide in plants, consisting of amylose and amylopectin, while cellulose is a key component of plant cell walls. Glycogen, similar to amylopectin, is the storage form of carbohydrates in animals and plays a crucial role in energy supply.

Uploaded by

conigsection
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
4 views9 pages

Understanding Polysaccharides and Their Roles

Polysaccharides, such as starch, cellulose, and glycogen, are large carbohydrates made of monosaccharide units and serve as food storage or structural materials. Starch is the primary storage polysaccharide in plants, consisting of amylose and amylopectin, while cellulose is a key component of plant cell walls. Glycogen, similar to amylopectin, is the storage form of carbohydrates in animals and plays a crucial role in energy supply.

Uploaded by

conigsection
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Polysaccharides

▪ Polysaccharides contain a large number of monosaccharide


units joined together by glycosidic linkages.
▪ These are the most commonly encountered carbohydrates in
nature. For example, starch, cellulose and glycogen.
▪ They mainly act as the food storage or structural materials.
Starch

▪ Starch is the main storage polysaccharide of plants.


▪ It is the most important dietary source for human beings.
▪ High content of starch is found in cereals, roots, tubers and
some vegetables.
▪ It is a polymer of α-glucose and consists of two components—
Amylose and Amylopectin.
Amylose
▪ Amylose is water soluble component which constitutes
about 15-20% of starch.

▪ Chemically amylose is a long unbranched chain with


200-1000 α-D-(+)-glucose units held together by C1– C4
glycosidic linkage.
Amylopectin
▪ Amylopectin is insoluble in water and constitutes
about 80 – 85% of starch.

▪ It is a branched chain polymer


of α-D-glucose units in which
chain is formed by C1–C4
glycosidic linkage whereas
branching occurs by C1–C6
glycosidic linkage.
Cellulose

▪ Cellulose occurs exclusively in plants and it is the most


abundant organic substance in plant kingdom.
▪ It is a predominant constituent of cell wall of plant cells.
Cellulose

▪ Cellulose is a straight chain polysaccharide composed only of β-D-glucose units


which are joined by glycosidic linkage between C1 of one glucose unit and C4 of the
next glucose unit.
Glycogen

▪ The carbohydrates are stored in animal body as glycogen.


▪ It is also known as animal starch because its structure is similar to
amylopectin and is rather more highly branched.
▪ It is present in liver, muscles and brain.
▪ When the body needs glucose, enzymes break the glycogen down to
glucose.
▪ Glycogen is also found in yeast and fungi.
Importance of Carbohydrates

▪ Carbohydrates are essential for life in both plants and animals.


▪ They form a major portion of our food.
▪ Honey has been used for a long time as an instant source of energy
by ‘Vaids’ in ayurvedic system of medicine.
▪ Carbohydrates are used as storage molecules as starch in plants and
glycogen in animals.
▪ Cell wall of bacteria and plants is made up of cellulose.
▪ We build furniture, etc. from cellulose in the form of wood
Importance of Carbohydrates

▪ We build furniture, etc. from cellulose in the form of wood and


clothe ourselves with cellulose in the form of cotton fibre.
▪ They provide raw materials for many important industries like
textiles, paper, lacquers and breweries.
▪ Two aldopentoses viz. D-ribose and 2-deoxy-D-ribose are present in
nucleic acids.
▪ Carbohydrates are found in biosystem in combination with many
proteins and lipids.

You might also like