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Carbohydrates - Coggle Diagram
Carbohydrates
Energy Source
Glucose
- When you eat foods containing carbs, your digestive system breaks them down into glucose.
- The primary fuel source for your body's cells and is known as blood sugar.
- The main form of sugar in the blood and is the body's primary fuel source.
- Your pancreas releases insulin, which helps glucose enter your cells for energy.
Sucrose
- A simple carbohydrate called a disaccharide.
- It is composed of two monosaccharide units (simple sugars) linked together.
- Composed of two sugar molecules: one glucose molecule and one fructose molecule.
- Common table sugar we use for cooking and is found naturally in various fruits, vegetables, and grains.
Energy Storage
Glycogen
- Storage form of carbohydrates in animals, including humans.
- Excess glucose that isn't immediately needed for energy.
- Converted into glycogen and stored in the liver and muscles.
- Available when glucose levels drop or during intense exercise.
Amylose
- A linear, unbranched polysaccharide composed of α-D-glucose units linked together by α-1,4 glycosidic bonds.
- A type of starch, a complex carbohydrate, that is a major component of plant-based foods like grains.
- It's a long chain of glucose molecules linked together in a linear, helical structure.
- This makes it less digestible than another starch, amylopectin
- More resistant to digestion.
Structural
Cell Wall
- Plant cell walls are primarily composed of carbohydrates.
- Complex polysaccharides like cellulose, hemicellulose, and pectin, which are essential for the cell's structure, support, and protection.
- These carbohydrates form a network that gives the cell its shape and strength.
- Cell wall plays a crucial role in protecting the cell from physical and chemical stresses.
- Maintaining cell shape and turgor pressure, regulating the passage of substances in and out of the cell.
Dextran
- a type of carbohydrate, specifically a polysaccharide, made up of glucose units
- branched polymer, meaning it's not a straight chain of glucose
- produced by certain bacteria, and they have various uses.
- Dextrans are built from glucose, which is a simple monosaccharide (single sugar).
- a naturally occurring polysaccharide, meaning it's part of the food chain
Nucleic Acids
DNA
- they are a fundamental component of the nucleotides that make up DNA.
- a polymer built from nucleotides, each of which consists of a sugar, a phosphate group, and a nitrogenous base.
- Deoxyribose, the sugar in DNA, is a modified form of ribose, a sugar found in RNA.
- Carbohydrates that interact with DNA, change it's structure as well as it's function.
Deoxyribose
- Deoxyribose is a monosaccharide
- Pentose sugar, that's a key component of DNA.
- A type of carbohydrate, that's not found in most carbohydrates.
- A building block of DNA, making it a crucial part of the genetic material.