W2 C4 P.P. - Carbohydrates Flashcards
Where do you find carbohydrates?
Primarily in plant based foods:
- Grains
- Vegetables
- Fruits
- Nuts
- Legumes
What is the most desirable form of energy for the body?
Glucose
Why is glucose important?
The brain and red blood cells especially rely on glucose as a fuel source.
How is glucose made?
The sun converts the sun’s energy into glucose via photosynthesis.
What is the most abundant carbohydrate in nature?
Glucose
How is glucose used in nature?
- Used as energy by plants
- Combined with minerals from soil to make other compounds (such as protein and vitamins)
- Glucose units are linked together and stored in the form of starch
What are the categories of carbohydrates?
Simple and complex (based on number of units joined together)
What do simple carbohydrates contain?
One or two sugar units (monosaccharides and disaccharides)
How many monosaccharides are there?
Three
- Glucose
- Fructose
- Galactose
How many disaccharides are there?
Three (they are monosaccharides joined together)
Maltose
A disaccharide
glucose + glucose
Sucrose
A disaccharide (table sugar)
glucose + fructose
Lactose
A disaccharide (milk sugar)
glucose + galactose
Complex Carbohydrates
Polysaccharides (long chains and branches of sugar linked together)
Ex. Starch, fiber, glycogen
Starch
The storage form in plants composed of amylose and amylopectin
Amylose
Straight chains of glucose units
Amylopectin
Branched chains of glucose units
Fiber is…
a nondigestible polysaccharide (Humans lack the digestive enzymes for breaking down fin=ber)
Where are dietary fibers found?
Naturally found in food
Where are functional fibers found?
Added to foods for beneficial effect
Soluble Fiber
Dissolves in water and is fermented by intestinal bacteria (Often viscous and moves more slowly through the GI tract)
Insoluble Fiber
Moves more rapidly through the GI tract, laxative effect
Glycogen
Is the storage form of glucose in animals
- Branched glucose similar to amylopectin
- Stored in liver and muscle cells
What happens to glycogen when an animal dies?
It breaks down, making it inaccessible to humans.
Where do you digest carbohydrates?
In your mouth and intestines.
Saliva contain the amylase enzyme, which…
starts breaking down the amylose and amylopectin into smaller starch units and maltose.
Where do pancreatic amylase break down the remaining starch (after saliva) into maltose?
In the small intestine.
