Metabolism of Food

Nutrients

Food to the human body

supplies nutrients
Proteins
triglycerides fats and oils carbohydrates minerals vitamins
and water are all nutrients
The body requires all of these nutrients in relatively high

quantities so they are classified as micronutrients

Minerals such as sodium potassium magnesium phosphorus sulfur

and chlorine are also considered machonutrients

Micronutrients are substances that are needed in deets in

smaller amounts they are essential for normal functioning at
the body and include vitamins and trace minerals minerals
such as copper fluorine zinc iodine selenium mangaus
Metabolism
chemical processes occurring within a living cell organism
that are necessary for the maintenance of life

Metabolism involves the breaking down of substances usually in

nutrients
you obtain from food to yield energy for vital
processeses Another aspect of metabolism involves the synthesis
of larger molecules that are necessary for life from smaller
molecules
Digestion
a metabolism starts in the digestive system

the process of digestion starts when food enters the

mouth it begins to be broken down to smaller
molecules
Digestion is a complete process that invokes a large
number of separate enzymes throughout the digestive
system which break down different components of the head

Enzymes are highly specific biological catalysts each enzyme

increases the rate of particular biochemical reactions
Digestion of carbohydrates
digestion starts in the mouth chewing increases surface area oh
God
It also minces the food with saliva which contains the
digestive enzyme amylase
Carbohydrates in food is broken down he smaller
dissacharides
breakdown continues in
your small intestine the duodenum
and jejunum which contains enzymes
digestive enzymes are produced in the pancreas

in the small intestine dissacharides such as matose are

broken down by specihre enzymes into glucose and other
monosaccharides
Digestion of Proteins

digestion et proteins produces individual amino acids which

are used by the body to synthesise enzymes and other
essential proteins
Proteins are initially broken down by Pepsin which is found
in the stomach
This produces shorter polypeptide chains that move into the
small intestine duodenum Once here the polypeptides are broken

down into smaller dipeptides Furtheralong in the intestine the

dipeptide are broken into amino acids
Digestion of triglyceride
it catalysed by the enzyme lipase which is
is

found in the small intestine duodenum

It hydrolyses the ester links in triglycerides producing glycerol
and fatty acids

Concepts related to digestion

reaction rates chewing food increases its surface area speeding

up digestion
solubility food consists of polar and non polar substances
Polar substances are digested in aqueous acid solutions in
the stomach but non polar molecules pass through the
stomach and are digested in the non polar environment of the
intestines

enzyme action each body cell contains as many as

2000 enzymes each with special functions
Polymerisation proteins and polysaccharides are built up
from monomers in condensation polymerisation reactions
Hydrolysis and Condensation Reactions

Hydrolysis involves splitting large molecules by theirreaction

with water molecules
Condensation reactions involve joining 2 smaller molecules
into forming a larger molecule with the elimination of
water
 Proteins are
hydrolised into soluble amino acids that are
transported through the body to cells Once inside the cells amino
acids can be re assembled into condensation reactions to form new

products

Polysaccharides are hydrolysed to form soluble

monosaccharides and disaccharides which are transported
through the body and used for
energy production
Monosaccharides
can be converted back to polysaccharides such
as glycogen for use as energy storages

Triglycerides are hydrolysed to fatty acid and glycerol

when are transported through the body Fatty acid and
glycerol can be converted back to triglycerides or used to produce

energy
 In general for the processes that occur during metabolism
macronutrients are relatively insoluble in water but smallermolecules
are more soluble Smaller molecules can be transported throughout

thebody in the blood

condensation reaction is endothermic requires energy to form

larger molecules
hydrolysis tends to be enothermic releasing energy as bonds
are broken in the formation of smaller molecules

Action of enzymes

Role of Enzymes
are catalysts
are not used up or charged at the end of a reaction
do not alter equilibriumposition
BEdhhf

provides an alternate reactionpathway that lowers the actratahr

energy for a reaction
 There is a difference between the behaviourof enzymes and
catalysts

marketed

catalysts can be used to catalyse

many different reaction using
a variety of reactants whilst Enzymes may only catalyse 1
Specific reaction or a reaction that involves a particular chemical
bond or functional group

Enzymes are also more sensitive than inorganic catalysts to

changes in reaction conditions
Lock and key Model of Enzyme action
The catalytic activity of an enzyme is highly specific and

depends on its overall 3D structure

Because enzymes are proteins their 3D structure is dictated

by their tertiaryand quarlenary structure

The Specific
Beats

part of the enzyme molecule with which a reactant

can react is known as its active site which is usually a

uniquely shaped fleuible hollow or cavity within theprotein

where the reaction occurs

t.a.ee
The reactant molecule that binds with the active site is

reffaed to as the substrate

r

In the loch and key model the substrate molecule

fits into the enzyme like a key in a lock This forms
an enzyme substrate compleu allowing the enzyme to
break the bonds in the substrate

mathr
The shape of the substrate molecule must match the shape
 hey shape can enter and form the necessary intermolecular
interactions with the active site lock of the enzyme

Enzymes dependance on pH and temperature

Monitering Enzyme Activity

The rate of conversion of a substrate into
product by an
enzyme is measured by a quantity called enzymeactivity
Enzyme activity is the amount of substrate that is converted
to products per unit bme
It depends on the quantity of active enzyme that is present

as well as reactors conditions

Enzyme acticity can be monitored euperimentally by following

the rate of reactions in solutions of equal concentration

Measurements of enzymeactivity may involve sampling the

reaction minture at fined lime intervals to measure the
concentration of a reactant or product by UV visible spectroscopy
Enzyme activity may also make use of an analytical technique
such as volumetric analysis

Enzyme activity can be influenced by a number of reaction

conditions ineluding solution pH temperature and the concentration
 sy
Dependence on
pH
Enzymes operate effectively only within a
narrow pH range

The pH at which
enzyme activity is the
greatest is called the enzyme's optimum pH

Acid base properties of enzymes

2 amino acids can form Zwicteaions

Aminoacids have different charges depending on the pH of the

surrounding environment
high pH the NHI group can act as an acid donating
a proton to become an NHL group
At low pH the COO group can act as a base accepty
a proton to become a COOH group
 some of the R groups of amino acids may also be
affected by changing
pH

Intermolecular bonds between the R groups of a

polypeptide maintain a protein's overall structure some
bonds that determine the tertiary structure of an enzyme
may be disturbed as charges in pH alter the ionisation
of some R groups
This euamdle shows us that the ionic
interactions may occur at pH 7 between
side chains of the amino acid units

along the protein chain but not a pH I or

10 why The change from neutral pH to
an acidoe pH oh3 means that the carbonyl
we
R
and contain the negative chargerefund for an ionic interactive 1
occurThe opposite situation would be true arth a change
from neutral pH to the basic pH 10 At a higherpH the
amino group in the other side chair will not act as
a base
remarry unchanged and unable to participate
in the ionic interaction

In this
way changes in pH can have a large impact
on the stability of enzyme structure As the tertiary
structure at the enzyme is disrupted the enzymes
active site changes shape and eneyme activity decreases
Entremey high low pH values
or generally cause
complete of activity for most enzymes Drastic changes
loss
to pH can result in permanent change to the

shape In an enzyme though a pinecell called

denaturation
Dependence on
Temperature
enzyme activity is affected by temperature

The temperature at which the enzyme activity is greatest

is known as the enzyme's optimimum temperature
270 for enzymes in humans

As the temperature increases above the optimum

temperature the increased kinetic energy of the
molecule disrupts the structure of the enzymeThe increased
movement throughout the enzyme breakssome of the
intermolecular forces responsible for the tertiary and
structureThis change in 3D shape of the
quaternary
enzyme means that the active she can no longer
effectively catalyse the realm so thesecretion rate decreases

rapidly
 As the temperature decreases below the optimum
temperature the enzyme and substrate molecules
have lower kinetic energies retully in less frequent
and less energetic collisions between the molecules

Denaturation
Once the temperature becomes too high theincreased kinetic
energy of the polypeptide chains of the enzyme breaks none
of the bonds between side chains of the amino acid units
and new bonds are formed

A change the enzyme's tertiary structure causes a

in
change in the shape of the active site and the enzyme
loses its catalytic activity It is said to be denatured
and this change is sometimes irreversible

Enzymes can also be denatured by a change in

pH
Comparing denaturation with hydrolysis
Even though increated temperature and variations in pH
can permanently change the tertiary structure of an

enzyme the primary structure of the protein the covalently

bondedsequence of amino acids remains intact

The primary structure of

enzymes and other proteins is broken
down when head is digested The breakdown of
proteins occurs through a process called hydrolysis the
hydrolysis of a protein molecule involves breaking covalent
bends in the peptide link
Hydrolysis of carbohydrates
Starch and glycogen are polysaccharides which plants
and animals are as a of storing energy
way
Both starch and glycogen are polymers of the same
monosaccharide glucose During digestion these
polysaccharides
are hydrolysed to smaller carbohydrates and
eventually to glucose

Starch Hydrolysis
The enzyme analyse in saliva hydrolyses starch in the
food you eat to maltose a disaccharide

Digestioncan continue on the small intestine where the

is produced in the intestine
enzyme maltase lining
Maltase hydrolyses matose to glucose

The structure above is that of a starch polymer

each glucose monomer is joined by a glycosidic link
formed as a result of the condensation polymerisation
 or C s gy
between each monosaccharide unit that are
broken during digestion

Glucose molecules are highly soluble hydrogen bonds can

form between the numerous hydrouyl groups in the
molecule and water As a result glucose dissolves on the
blood and is transported to different parts of the body
Some glucose molecules are used to produceenergy
thugh respiration while others are used to synthesise
energy storage molecules such as glycogen

During respiration glucose is onidised to carbon dionide

and water and energy is produced The equation for
the onidaton of glucose is

6 His06
cag
t 602cg 6CO2 cg theH2OCD
 The digestion of starch is summarised below it
is catalysed by 2 different enzymes analyse and
Maltese
Hydrolysis of fats and oils
A triglyceride is a large molecule formed from the
reaction between glycerol and 3 fatty acid
molecules

Like proteins and carbohydrates triglycerides undergo enzyme

catalysed hydrolysis during digestion However unlike proteins
and carbohydrates triglycerides are insoluble in water
so their molecules remain intact as they pass through the
digestive tract until they reach the small intestine

In this small intestine Bile is used to process

the triglycerides

Bile is liver but is stored in the

produced in the

gallbladder where it is concentrated It enters the

duodenum or upper part of the small intestine via
the bile duct
 Bile emulsifies fats breaking them down into smaller
particles and dispersing them as small droplets This
process of creating an emulsion is similar to how
detergents work on the fat left in a frying pan
after cooking fatty food This elket is shown below1
 In your body the enzymelipase breaks down triglycerides
however lipase is water soluble protein so it can only
interact at the surface of the hydrophobic fat globules
Emulsification of fats by bile increasesthe surface area of
the fats which means that lipase can access more
triglyceride molecules which increases the rate of
hydrolysis

Lipase enters the intestine from the pancreas Theenzyme

catalyses the hydrolysis of 3 ester bends in the
triglyceride molecules We can see below how the
triglyceride molecules undergo hydrolysis to form
glycerol and fatty acids
 The 3 fatty acids will not necessarily have the same
meerkat

structure below is the general equation for the

hydrolysis of a
triglyceride

The glycerol and fatty acids that are produced pass into
the bloodstream to the liver where they are
re formed into triglycerides

When the amount of fat and carbohydrate

mooraoooooh

is eaten
more than required to meet the body's energy
needs triglycerides are stored in adipose tissue as
an energy reserve

Adipose tissue or fatty tissue is connective tissue

 S
the skin in deposits around muscles or
or
organs
and serves as a long term storage in the
energy
body

This represents the storage of

fat globules in adipose tissue under
the skin

When the body requires energy

hydrolysed and
triglycerides are
transported to muscle cells

At the muscle cells the fatty acids are ouidised

The eventual products of this complete process are

carbon dionode and water a typical equation is

CH CCHahaCOOHcag t 2302 lbconcept16thou

cg
OH 9770 U mot
 oE
E.i
aol.tt Eucess to the liver
glycerol is transported
without