Course title: Principles of Human Nutrition

Course no: FSN 113

Class:1st year 1st Sem
Dr. Abnita Thakuria
 CARBOHYDRATE
• Carbohydrates are one of the three
macronutrients in the human diet, along with
protein and fat. These molecules contain carbon,
hydrogen, and oxygen atoms.

• They are the most abundant organic molecules in

nature and also referred to as “saccharides”.

• The carbohydrates which are soluble in water and

sweet in taste are called as “sugars”.
• The digestive tract begins to
break down carbohydrates into
glucose, which is used for
energy, upon consumption.

• Any extra glucose in the

bloodstream is stored in the liver
and muscle tissue until further
energy is needed.
 CARBOHYDRATE
• Carbohydrate is the main source of
energy, providing 4 Kcals per one
gram Carbohydrate.

• It is also essential for the oxidation of

fats and for the synthesis of certain
non-essential amino acids.
4
 Structure of Carbohydrates
• Carbohydrates are large macromolecules consisting of
carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) and have the
general Cx(H2O)y formula.

• They are organic compounds organized in the form of

aldehydes or ketones with multiple hydroxyl groups coming
off the carbon chain.

• The building blocks of all carbohydrates are simple sugars

called monosaccharides.

• A monosaccharide can be a polyhydroxy aldehyde (aldose)

or a polyhydroxy ketone (ketose).
 Polyhydroxy aldehydes or polyhydroxy
ketones are those carbon compounds, in
which the number of carbon atoms is high,
where more than one carbon atom has an
alcohol or hydroxyl group (−OH) group and
the terminal carbon has either the aldehyde
(−CHO) or the ketone (−C=O) group.
 Properties of Carbohydrates
• Stereoisomerism – Compound having the
same structural formula but they differ in
spatial configuration. Example: Glucose has two
isomers with respect to the penultimate carbon
atom. They are D-glucose and L-glucose.

• D and L notation and is determined based on

the chiral carbon farthest from the C=O
carbonyl group (penultimate carbon)
• Optical Activity – It is the rotation of plane-polarized
light forming (+) glucose and (-) glucose.

• Optical activity of a molecule is defined as its ability to rotate a plane-

polarized (light vibrating in one direction) light that passes through
it.

• Optical activity of a molecule depends on the chirality of the

molecule.

• A chiral molecule is a molecule that has a chiral carbon, i.e., a carbon

with four different groups attached to it.

• Some molecules can rotate plane-polarized light towards the left, thus
known as laevorotatory (-) and some can rotate it towards the right,
hence known as dextrorotatory (+).
• Diastereo isomers –
It’s the configurational
changes with regard to C2,
C3, or C4 in glucose.
Example: Mannose,
galactose.

Diastereomers are defined

as compounds which have
the same molecular
formula and sequence of
bonded elements but are
non superimposable, non-
mirror images.
• Annomerism – It is the spatial configuration with
respect to the first carbon atom in aldoses and
second carbon atom in ketoses.
 Chemical Properties of Carbohydrates
• Osazone formation/test: Osazone are carbohydrate
derivatives when sugars are reacted with an excess of
phenylhydrazine. eg. Glucosazone.
The Osazone test is a type of biochemical test which
is used to detect reducing sugars.

• Benedict’s test: Reducing sugars when heated in the presence

of an alkali gets converted to powerful reducing species
known as enediols.
When Benedict’s reagent solution and reducing sugars
are heated together, the solution changes its colour to orange-
red/ brick red.
• Oxidation: Monosaccharides are reducing sugars as
their carbonyl groups oxidize to give carboxylic
acids. In Benedict’s test, D-glucose is oxidized to D-
gluconic acid thus, glucose is considered a reducing
sugar.

• Reduction to alcohols: The C=O groups in open-

chain forms of carbohydrates can be reduced to
alcohols by sodium borohydride, NaBH4, or catalytic
hydrogenation (H2, Ni, EtOH/H2O). The products are
known as “alditols” (sugar alcohols)
Classification of carbohydrates
 Classification of carbohydrates
• Monosaccharide: The most basic, fundamental unit of a
carbohydrate. These are simple sugars with the general chemical
structure of C6H12O6.
Examples: glucose, galactose, fructose

• Disaccharide: Compound sugars containing two monosaccharides

with the elimination of a water molecule with the general chemical
structure C12H22O11
Examples: sucrose, lactose

• Oligosaccharide: The polymer contains three to ten monosaccharides

Examples: maltodextrins, raffinose

• Polysaccharides: Polymers containing long chains of

monosaccharides connected through glycosidic bonds
Examples: amylose, cellulose
 Properties of Monosaccharides
• Most monosaccharides have a sweet taste (fructose is
sweetest; 73% sweeter than sucrose).

• They are solids at room temperature.

• They are extremely soluble in water: – Despite their high

molecular weights, the presence of large numbers of OH
groups make the monosaccharides much more water-
soluble than most molecules of similar molecular weights.

• Glucose can dissolve in minute amount of water to make a

syrup (1 g / 1 ml H2O).
• The simple carbohydrates include single sugars
(monosaccharides) and polymers,
oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides.

• Monosaccharides
• Simplest group of carbohydrates and often called
simple sugars since they cannot be further
hydrolyzed.
• Colourless, crystalline solid which are soluble in
water and insoluble in a non-polar solvent.

• These are compound which possesses a free

aldehyde or ketone group.
• The general formula is Cn(H2O)nor CnH2nOn.
• They are classified according to the number of carbon
atoms they contain and also on the basis of the
functional group present.

• The monosaccharides thus with 3,4,5,6,7… carbons

are called trioses, tetroses, pentoses, hexoses,
heptoses, etc., and also as aldoses or ketoses
depending upon whether they contain aldehyde or
ketone group.

• Examples: Glucose, Fructose, Erythrulose,

Ribulose.
• Oligosaccharides

• Oligosaccharides are compound sugars that yield 2

to 10 molecules of the same or different
monosaccharides on hydrolysis.

• The monosaccharide units are joined by glycosidic

linkage.

• Based on the number of monosaccharide units, it

is further classified as disaccharide,
trisaccharide, tetrasaccharide etc.
• Oligosaccharides yielding 2 molecules of monosaccharides
on hydrolysis is known as a disaccharide, and the ones
yielding 3 or 4 monosaccharides are known as
trisaccharides and tetrasaccharides respectively and so on.

• The general formula of disaccharides is Cn(H2O)n-1and that

of trisaccharides is Cn(H2O)n-2 and so on.

• Examples: Disaccharides include sucrose, lactose,

maltose, etc.

• Trisaccharides are Raffinose, Rabinose.

• Polysaccharides

• They are also called as “glycans”.

• Polysaccharides contain more than 10 monosaccharide

units and can be hundreds of sugar units in length.

• They yield more than 10 molecules of monosaccharides

on hydrolysis.

• Polysaccharides differ from each other in the identity of

their recurring monosaccharide units, in the length of
their chains, in the types of bond linking units and in the
degree of branching.
• They are primarily concerned with two
important functions
ie. Structural functions and the storage of
energy.

• They are further classified depending on the

type of molecules produced as a result of
hydrolysis.
• They may be homopolysaccharides, containing
monosaccharides of the same type
or heteropolysaccharides i.e., monosaccharides
of different types.

• Examples of Homopolysaccharides are starch,

glycogen, cellulose, pectin.

• Heteropolysaccharides are Hyaluronic acid,

Chondroitin.
 Sources of carbohydrates
• Carbohydrates are widely distributed
molecules in plant and animal tissues.
• In plants and arthropods, carbohydrates
form the skeletal structures, they also serve
as food reserves in plants and animals.
• They are important energy source required
for various metabolic activities, the energy
is derived by oxidation.
 Sources of carbohydrates
• There are three main sources of carbohydrate,
viz. starches, sugar and cellulose.

• The carbohydrate reserve (glycogen) of a human

adult is about 500g.

• This reserve is rapidly exhausted when a man is

fasting. If the dietary carbohydrates do not meet
the energy needs of the body, protein and
glycerol from dietary and endogenous sources
are used by the body to maintain glucose
homeostasis.
 Major functions include:
• Living organisms use carbohydrates as accessible energy to
fuel cellular reactions.

• They are the most abundant dietary source of energy

(4kcal/gram) for all living beings.

• Carbohydrates along with being the chief energy source, in

many animals, are instant sources of energy. Glucose is
broken down by glycolysis/ Kreb’s cycle to yield ATP.

• Serve as energy stores, fuel, and metabolic intermediates.

• It is stored as glycogen in animals and starch in plants.

• Stored carbohydrates act as an energy source instead of

proteins (protein sparing action of carbohydrate).

• They form structural and protective components, like in

the cell wall of plants and microorganisms.

• Structural elements in the cell walls of bacteria

(peptidoglycan or murein), plants (cellulose) and
animals (chitin).
• Carbohydrates are intermediates in the
biosynthesis of fats and proteins.

• Carbohydrates aid in the regulation of nerve tissue

and is the energy source for the brain.

• Carbohydrates get associated with lipids and

proteins to form surface antigens, receptor
molecules, vitamins, and antibiotics.

• Formation of the structural framework of RNA and

DNA (ribonucleic acid and deoxyribonucleic acid).
• They are linked to many proteins and lipids. Such linked
carbohydrates are important in cell-cell communication
and in interactions between cells and other elements in
the cellular environment.

• In animals, they are an important constituent of

connective tissues.

• Carbohydrates that are rich in fiber content help to

prevent constipation.

• Also, they help in the modulation of the immune system.

 Dietary fibre
• Dietary fibre which is mainly non-starch
polysaccharide is a physiological important component
of the diet.

• It is found in vegetables, fruits and grains. It may be

divided broadly into cellulose and non-cellulose
polysaccharides which include hemi-cellulose pectin,
storage polysaccharides like inulin, and the plant gums
and mucilage.

• These are all degraded to a greater or lesser extent by

the micro flora in the human colon.

….To be continued