Carbohydrates

• A ct as an energy reserve in plants is a function as a structural component in plants is the most abundant class of bioorganic molecules on planet Earth.
• A molecule whose mirror images are not superimposable is a Molecule whose mirror images are superimposable is a Molecules that coincide at all points when the images are laid upon each other are images where not all points coincide when the images are laid upon each other.
• An achiral molecule is a molecule whose mirror images are superimposable.
• Molecules that contain more than one chiral center can also exist in diastereomeric as well as enantiomeric forms.
• A chiral molecule is a molecule whose mirror images are not superimposable.
• Stereoisomers can be subdivided into two types: enantiomers and diastereomers.
• Cis-trans isomers (of both the alkene and the cycloalkane types) are diastereomers.
• Enantiomers are stereoisomers whose molecules are nonsuperimposable mirror images of each other.
• A molecule that contains a chiral center is said to be chiral.
• Chiral molecules have handedness.
• The tetrahedral orientation requirement is met only if the bonds from the center atom to the four different groups are all single bonds.
• The left- and right-handed forms of a chiral molecule are isomers.
• Stereoisomers are isomers that have the same molecular and structural formulas but differ in the orientation of atoms in space.
• Monosaccharides, the simplest type of carbohydrate and the building block for more complex types of carbohydrates, are almost always “right-handed.”
• Plants, the main dietary source of carbohydrates, produce only right-handed monosaccharides.
• Diastereomers are stereoisomers whose molecules are not mirror images of each other.
• Studies show that the body’s response to the right-handed form of the hormone epinephrine is 20 times greater than its response to the left-handed form.
• In human body chemistry, right-handed and left-handed forms of a molecule often elicit different responses within the body.
• A chiral center is an atom in a molecule that has four different groups bonded to it in a tetrahedral orientation.
• Achiral molecules do not possess handedness.
• In this part, carbon is seen as the Chiral center.
• Carbohydrates are the most abundant class of bioorganic molecules on planet Earth.
• Although their abundance in the human body is relatively low, carbohydrates constitute about 75% by mass of dry plant materials.
• Acidic polysaccharides are heteropolysaccharides.
• Heparin prevents the formation of clots in the blood and retards the growth of existing clots within the blood.
• More water soluble due to increase in branching.
• Nondigestible as humans lack cellulase.
• N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, product of hydrolysis of chitin, is marketed as a dietary supplement touted to decrease joint inflammation and pain associated with osteoarthritis.
• The structural component of plant cell walls, cellulose is the most abundant naturally occurring polysaccharide.
• Hyaluronic acid, a highly viscous polysaccharide, serves as a lubricant in the fluid of joints and is also associated with the jelly-like consistency of the vitreous humor of the eye.
• Both hyaluronic acid and heparin have negative charge groups.
• Contains 100,000 glucose units.
• Structurally identical to cellulose, except the monosaccharide present is N-acetyl-D-glucosamine (rather than glucose), chitin is also found in the cell walls of fungi.
• The source for pharmaceutical heparin is intestinal or lung tissue of slaughter-house animals (pigs and cows).
• The “woody” portions of plants — stems, stalks, and trunks — have particularly high concentrations of this fibrous, water-insoluble substance.
• Contains 5000 glucose units.
• The second most abundant naturally occurring polysaccharide, next to cellulose, chitin functions to give rigidity to the exoskeletons of crabs, lobsters, shrimp, insects, and other arthropods.
• Heparin does not break down clots that have already formed.
• Heparin is a blood anticoagulant naturally present in mast cells and is released at the site of tissue injury.
• Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), also known as mucopolysaccharides, are large linear polymers of repeating disaccharide units, commonly containing one or another amino sugar as one of the monomers in the disaccharide units.