Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates and lipids/fats are a very important part of our lives. They have many similarities and differences among each other, which distinguish them from other macromolecules.

Carbohydrates, which include sugar and their polymers, are used by organisms for fuel and building material. They come in many various forms going from simplicity to complexity. The simplest, monosaccharides, compose of single sugars whose parts are arranged around asymmetric carbons. They generally have a molecular formula that is a multiple of CH2O.

Glucose, the most common monosaccharide, is of central importance in the chemistry of life.

Energy is stored in glucose materials and extracts cells in the process of cellular respiration.

When two monosaccharides join by covalently bonding through glycosidic linkage, they form a disaccharide, or double sugar. If more than two, such as hundreds and thousands bond, they form polysaccharides, or macromolecules.

There are two main types of polysaccharides; storage and structural. Starch and glycogen are used for storage. In plants, starch is mainly used because if it is synthesized, the plant can stock an abundance of sugar. Starch can be found in wheat, corn, rice, and other grains. Glycogen, on the other hand, is more extensively branched, therefore, it is stored by humans and animals.

Cellulose and chitin are the structural polysaccharides. Cellulose is a tough component of the walls in a plant cell. Structure is important since th...