Essentail Nutrients 3 Flashcards
What is glucose?
A simple sugar and a primary energy source
Glucose is a monosaccharide that serves as a critical energy source for cells.
What is a polysaccharide?
A carbohydrate composed of many single sugar subunits
Polysaccharides include starch, glycogen, and cellulose.
What is starch?
A plant carbohydrate used to store energy
Starch is a polysaccharide made up of glucose units.
What are the two forms of starch?
Amylose and amylopectin
Amylose is unbranched, while amylopectin has a branched structure.
What is the structure of amylose?
An unbranched polymer of glucose
Amylose forms a helical shape.
What is the structure of amylopectin?
A branched polymer of glucose
Amylopectin has short branching chains of glucose.
What is glycogen?
The form of carbohydrate storage in animals
Glycogen is structurally similar to amylopectin but has fewer glucose units in its branches.
What is cellulose?
A plant polysaccharide that makes up plant cell walls
Cellulose is composed of many glucose subunits but differs in bonding from starch.
True or False: Cellulose forms coiled structures.
False
Cellulose does not form coiled structures like starch.
Why do athletes often eat starches?
They provide a prolonged source of energy without dramatically changing blood sugar levels
Complex carbohydrates like starch are digested slowly.
Fill in the blank: Animals store carbohydrates in the form of _______.
glycogen
Glycogen is a highly branched polysaccharide used for energy storage.
What percentage of all organic carbon in the biosphere is tied up as cellulose?
Over 50%
Cellulose is the most abundant organic polymer on Earth.
What are the bonding differences between starch and cellulose?
Cellulose tends not to form coiled structures and has different linking oxygen atoms
This difference gives cellulose its structural rigidity in plant cell walls.
