BIOCHEMISTRY OF CARBOHYDRATES

NOTE: THIS IS NOT YOUR LECTURE NOTE, MAKE SURE

TO STUDY YOUR LECTURE NOTE GIVEN BY THE
LECTURER WHILE USING THIS AS A GUIDE TO AID
UNDERSTANDING.
By PIPER
Now, the carbohydrate which is one of our most popular nutrients , -
since we dey chop rice like almost everyday 🤣-… is what we are about to
study, and we are focusing on the CHEMISTRY OF CARBOHYDRATES. This
is a biochemistry class , so we will talk about the types/classifications of
carbohydrates and learn about their structures and how they are formed.
Now if you are a fan or not a fan of chemistry, just kindly read carefully
cause I promise you it’s gonna be broken down bits by bits to the simplest
form !

🧬COMMON FACTS ABOUT “CARBOHYDRATES”🧬

💥Carbohydrates are also known as ‘SACCHARIDES’. Saccharides comes
from a Greek word which means “Sugar”.
💥They are composed mainly of Carbon , hydrogen and oxygen with their
molar ratio is [1:2:1].
💥They are the most abundant biomolecules on earth, by mass. The
other biomolecules we have are proteins , lipids , fats and oil etc
💥Much of carbohydrates are produced by photosynthetic organisms
including bacteria, algae, and plants .They convert solar energy to
chemical energy used to make carbohydrate from CO2! I am sure you are
familiar with PHOTOSYNTHESIS (CO2 + H2O -> glucose + O2)☀️🪴.
💥These compounds may be represented by the general formula
Cx(H2O)y, where x and y may be different values . This General formula
generated the name “hydrate of carbon” or “hydrated carbon” in the
olden days, and then it got us here to the name Carbohydrates .

🧬IMPORTANCE OF CARBOHYDRATES🧬
💥In animals and plants, carbohydrate polymers act as energy storage
molecules. In your 2nd semester, we’ll talk about carbohydrate
metabolism and how they are metabolized to produce the energy they
store⚡️, but that’s a story for another day fam.
💥Polymeric carbohydrates are also found in cell walls and in the
protective coatings of many organisms. e.g cellulose
💥Other carbohydrate polymers are marker molecules that allow one
type of cell to recognize and interact with another type.
💥Carbohydrate derivatives are found in a number of biological
molecules, including some coenzymes and the nucleic acids DNA and
RNA(ribose).

🧬CLASSIFICATION OF CARBOHYDRATES🧬
Carbs can be classified on whether or not they undergo HYDROLYSIS.
Hydrolysis is in a simple form refers to a reaction that involves the
breaking down of a bigger entity into smaller entities with the use of
water .💦 🔨 (Hydro means water, lysis means to break/separate).
💥Monosaccharides -Monosaccharides are the smallest units of
carbohydrate structure. e.g glucose, galactose , fructose . They are also
known as SIMPLE SUGARS. All these ones do not undergo HYDROLYSIS,
how will they undergo hydrolysis when there’s nothing to break/separate
‍♂ ️. Hence, we classify them as monosaccharides(one sugar molecule)
🤷🏾‍
💥Oligosaccharides - these ones undergo hydrolysis to produce a definite
number of (2-9 monosaccharides). But note that there are various types
of oligosaccharides .
a)disaccharides(produces two monosaccharides e.g lactose, sucrose )
b)trisaccharides(produces three monosaccharides e.g raffinose) and so on
💥Polysaccharides- These ones can also undergo hydrolysis producing
thousands of monosaccharides e.g glycogen , starch , cellulose .

🧬GLYCAN, GLYCOSIDIC BONDS & GLYCOCONJUGATES 🧬

GLYCANS
💥Another term for polysaccharides is GLYCAN .
💥Referring to our diagram above, let’s take each of those drawings as a
polysaccharide chain and each coloured circle represents a
monosaccharide unit… don’t mind my drawings(lol). For the
polysaccharide chain A, we notice that each monomeric unit has the
same color which is red . Since they are all the same, we can call it an
HOMOGLYCAN, because it is a polysaccharide carbohydrate chain
consisting of the same monosaccharide.
Polysaccharide chain B has different monosaccharide units so we call it an
HETEROGLYCAN.

GLYCOCONJUGATES
💥And then the last chain is also a carbohydrate chain with a man
attached to it , that man represents any other chemical specie that’s
covalently bonded to a carbohydrate. GLYCOCONJUGATES are
carbohydrate derivatives in which one or more carbohydrate chains are
linked covalently to a peptide, protein, or lipid. The man could be a
protein , peptide or lipid. Respectively, it will form a glycoprotein,
peptidoglycans and glycolipids.

GLYCOSIDIC BONDS
💥The yellow lines in the diagram above represent the glycosidic bonds .
The bonds joins two carbohydrates molecules together or a carbohydrate
molecules and another different molecule, just like it does with the man
in diagram C which together forms the glycoconjugate.

🧬MORE ON MONOSACCHARIDES 🧬
💥Monosaccharides are water-soluble, white, crystalline solids
that have a sweet taste. Glucose and fructose are examples of
monosaccharides .
💥One common characteristics of monosaccharides is that out of all the
carbon atoms that monosaccharides have , one of them stands out and is
called the carbonyl carbon(we will talk about the carbonyl carbon below).
💥Monosaccharides can be classified into two groups based on :
•No. of carbon atoms present.
•Type of carbonyl group present .

-NO. OF CARBON ATOMS PRESENT:

💥All Monosaccharides contain at least three carbon atoms, meaning we
can’t have a monosaccharide that has less than 3 carbon atoms.
Hence,the smallest monosaccharide are trioses(a 3-carbon sugar ).
a monosaccharide can be a triose(if it has 3 carbons) , tetrose(4 carbons) ,
pentose(5 carbons) , hexose(6 carbons) etc

-TYPE OF CARBONYL GROUP PRESENT:

💥let’s talk briefly about the carbonyl group. Imagine the monosaccharide
as an human being , 👨 man or 👩 woman , we don’t know . The only
thing that we can use to determine it’s gender is by looking at the type of
carbonyl groups attached to it.. So there are two types of carbonyl
groups, the KETONE 👨 and the ALDEHYDE 👧. If a KETONE carbonyl
group is on a monosaccharide, we call it a KETOSE, if an ALDEHYDE
carbonyl group is on a monosaccharide we call it an ALDOSE.
💥A molecule with 5 carbon atoms and a ketone group is a ketopentose,
A molecule with 5 carbon atoms and an aldehyde group is an
aldopentose. A molecule with 6 carbon atoms and ketone group is a
ketohexose .. so what do we call an molecule with 6 carbon group and an
aldehyde group ? Forward to my dm.. https://wa.me/+2348090576193
💥So what is a carbonyl group , a carbonyl group is a functional group
composed of a carbon atom double-bonded to an oxygen atom, as it is
shown above in the diagram, but don’t forget that carbon always forms 4-
bonds so if two are taken up by Oxygen atoms then we have extra two
left to be filled.
💥Now how can we identify the Ketone carbonyl group and the aldehyde
carbonyl group. The carbon atom of the ketone carbonyl group is
attached to two groups which must be hydrocarbons and then for
aldehydes the carbonyl group is also attached to two groups and one
must be an Hydrogen atom and the other group can also be either
another hydrogen atom or any other hydrocarbon . Refer to the diagram
above .

💥So this molecule above is it male or female?? well looking at the carbon
atom double bonded to the oxygen it is attached to an hydrogen atom on
the right and then attached to an hydrocarbon group on the left , which
makes it female(ALDEHYDE 👩)… na babe…

•What’s the functional group below ? Answer this yourself!

Dm me with your answer .
(WhatsApp: Piper https://wa.me/+2348090576193

🧬ISOMERISM & CHIRALITY OF CARBOHYDRATES🧬

💥What are isomers ? Isomers in a very short form means “equal parts” ,
isomers are chemical compounds that have the same parts but are not
the same . To make a funny analogy, there are two boys, Abdullah and
Sultan , if these two boys wear the same cloth, same accessories and all
that drip head to toe to school, we can say they are isomers of each other
, why ? Cus they have equal parts(clothes & accessories) , but are they the
same? nope they are not .
💥There are two general types of isomers which are CONSTITUTIONAL
ISOMERS AND STEREOISOMERS . Our main focus for this lesson is the
stereoisomers , however I will give a brief explanation for the
constitutional isomers so you can understand the concept perfectly .
-Constitutional isomers are also known as structural isomers, they
contain the same molecular formula I.e they contain the same number of
the same type of atoms but connected differently. Using a crude analogy,
let’s say you have two bracelets and each of them have 5 red beads and 5
green beads . Now these two bracelets have the same number of the
same type of beads, but when you connect them differently ,I.e on one
bracelet you arrange the beads in the format of 2 red beads followed by 2
green beads and on the other bracelet you arrange the beads in the
format of 1 red bead followed by 1 green bead , then you have just
created Two CONSTITUTIONAL ISOMERS. For example, butane and
isobutane , they are both contain 4 carbon atoms and 10 hydrogen atoms
, but are connected differently .

•Now stereoisomers are compounds that also have the same molecular
formular .I.e they contain the same number of the same type of atoms ,
however, they are connected in the same manner the only difference is
that these atoms differ in their arrangements/orientation in space . From
the image below you can see the molecules contain the same number of
atoms and are also connected the same way but are arranged in space
differently .
💥ENATIOMERS: these are types of stereoisomers that are mirror images
of each other and are non-superimposable, for something to be non-
superimposable it means they cannot be placed on top of each other, for
example your shoes are mirror images of each other, such that when you
place your left shoe in front of a mirror you will view your right shoe
inside the mirror, but can they cannot be superimposed. This makes your
shoes examples of ENANTIOMERS.
Examples of enantiomers are D-glucose and L-glucose, D-alanine and L-
alanine .

CHIRALITY
💥The word chirality is derived from the Greek χειρ (kheir), "hand", a
familiar chiral object. A molecule (or object) that is not superimposable
on its mirror image is said to be CHIRAL . Just like I used the shoes
illustration above, our hand are also good examples of chiral objects
given that they are mirror images of each other but they cannot be
superimposed , this fact makes them different .

💥There’s an opposite form of Chirality , which is ACHIRALITY, this is

when molecules that are mirror images of eachother are super-imposable

on each other . For example, a pair of socks. The right pair is the mirror
image of the left pair ,it is possible for you to rotate the left pair such that
it will be an exact replica of the right pair such that when you place one
above the other it will fit meaning they can be super-imposed on each
other.

💥Another way to know if a molecule is chiral or not is by spotting the

CHIRAL CENTRES. A chiral center is defined as an atom in a molecule that
is bonded to four different atoms or chemical species, allowing for optical
isomerism.

For diagram A, the carbon atom there is a chiral centre because it is

surrounded by 4-different atoms and then for diagram B, the carbon
atom is surrounded by 2 different atoms and the other two atoms are the
same , which makes it ACHIRAL! . The molecule in diagram A are
superimposable.
💥The aldehydic triose, or aldotriose, is glyceraldehyde and it is CHIRAL,
why ? Because it has a chiral centre which is the C-2. Check the diagram
below .
💥The ketonic triose, or ketotriose, is dihydroxyacetone, which is achiral.
Why ? Because it has no chiral centre. Check the diagram below .

💥The dihydoxyacetone is the only ACHIRAL monosaccharide, all other

monosaccharides and longer-chain versions of these two triose sugars,
are chiral.,
💥The formula 2^n(2 raised to power n) is used to figure out how many
stereoisomers a molecule can have , where n = number of chiral centres .
Hence, a molecule like glucose with 4 chiral Centers will have 16 different
stereoisomers and also on .

-Answer and submit to my dm https://wa.me/+2348090576193

•How many chiral centers & stereoisomers does fructose have ?
•If ketopentoses have 2 chiral centers , how many chiral centers will the
corresponding aldopentoses have ?
NOTE: ketoses have one less chiral center than the corresponding
aldehydes. For example, aldohexoses have 4 chiral centers , the
corresponding ketohexoses have 3 chiral centers.

🧬D & L CONFIGURATIONS (Dextrorotatory & Levorotatory) 🧬

Generally, D and L notation is used to describe the stereochemistry of
carbohydrates. This system is named after the Latin words dexter and
laevous that stands for the right and left respectively .It is used to name
the molecule by relating them to the glyceraldehyde molecule.

💥Study the arrangements of the atoms surrounding the carbon-2 of the

two structures above, the -OH groups on the carbon-2’s are oriented
differently . For the L-glyceraldehyde it is on the left , and for the D-
glyceraldehyde it is on the right . This structure is used to determine the
D&L configurations of other monosaccharides . Almost all natural sugars
have the D-configurations.
💥To determine if a sugar is D or L configuration you find the highest
numbered chiral centre(which will be a carbon) , if the -OH group is
oriented like that of the D-glyceraldehyde then it is a D-sugar , if it is
oriented like that of the L-glyceraldehyde then it is an L-sugar .
How does glucose have 4-chiral centers?

💥The two parts identified with A&B are not chiral because the Carbon
atom is NOT BONDED TO FOUR DIFFERENT ATOMS.. the carbon (A)above
is bonded to (O+O+H+R), R is the whole part beneath the carbon. So we
can see that it is double bonded to oxygen, which cancels it from making
the books of chiral centers. While the other numbered carbons 1-4 are
chiral, for example the carbon marked with 1 is bonded to
(OH+H+CHO+R), R is the whole part beneath it . So we can see it’s bonded
to four different parts.
Do well to study the other structures!
💥A ketose has one fewer chiral carbon atom than the aldose of the
same empirical formula. For example, all monosaccharides that are
aldohexoses(e.g glucose) have 4 chiral centers, the corresponding ketose
family which is ketohexoses(e.g fructose) have 3 chiral centers.

🧬EPIMERS🧬
💥Sugar molecules that differ in configuration at only one of several
chiral centers are called epimers. We know what chiral centers are
already, if you don’t kindly scroll up .

💥The two images are examples of epimers , diagram A(glucose and

galactose) are epimers of each other because, their carbon-4 have a
different arrangement of their -OH & -H groups, the same goes with
Diagram B(glucose & mannose) their carbon- 2 have a different
arrangement of their -OH group & H groups .

🧬FISCHER PROJECTION & HAWORTH PROJECTIONS🧬

💥The diagram above is a 3-dimensional representation of a molecule.
For something to be 3-dimensional it simply means it’s length, width and
height can be measured. This 3-D structure is how molecules exist in
nature. All other molecules such as the carbohydrates we are studying
are also 3-dimensional in structure. However, we can not see these
natural 3-D structure unless you create a “ball and stick model” like the
one in the diagram above. So, some projections have been invented such
that we will be able to represent the 3-D structure of molecules especially
that of carbohydrates , but in 2-D form on paper.
💥The diagram above is a 3-Dimensional representation of a methane
molecule, the black ball represents a Carbon atom and the blue balls are
Hydrogen atoms. Now you can see the orientation of those hydrogen
atoms, you can see the ones that are pointing towards you, you can see
the ones that are pointing away from you and you then you can see the
ones that are vertically inclined.. The is the beauty of seeing a molecule in
3-D.
These projections however, will help us identify the orientations of the
atoms and also it reveals to us some chemical or stereochemical
properties that the 3-D structure can not reveal.
There are two ways in which a carbohydrate molecule can projected:
a)Fischer projection
b)Haworth projection

🧬 THE FISCHER PROJECTION:

💥The Fischer projection was proposed by Emil Fischer in 1891, baba
even won a noble price for this ting. Mad. So this Fischer projection is a

linear open chain representation of a carbohydrate.

💥The carbon atoms in the main chain of the carbohydrate molecules are
connected vertically, whilst the -OH and -H groups are connected
horizontally. The horizontal lines illustrate the bonds that are pointing
towards you while the vertical lines illustrate the bonds that are pointing
away from you.
💥Something this projection shows us that the natural 3-D structure
cannot is the chirality, and since we can know if a molecule has chiral
centers or not through this projection then we can also know its
stereoisomers(diastereomers or enantiomer). Sweeet 🧫.
💥As Fischer projections can have a degree of ambiguity when confused
with other types of drawing, their use to represent non-carbohydrates is
discouraged. They are mainly used to illustrate monosaccharides. They
can be used to represent other organic molecules including amino acids,
but this is discouraged by the 2006 IUPAC recommendations. IUPAC rules
also determine that the hydrogen atoms should be explicitly drawn
especially the hydrogen atoms of the end group of carbohydrates. Fischer
projections are different to skeletal formulae.  

🧬THE HAWORTH PROJECTION:

💥The Haworth projection was proposed by Norman Haworth in 1902. He
also collected a Nobel prize for this in 1937. He expanded on the work of
Fischer. In simpler terms, what we can say he did was to carry a rubber
stick and bend it form a circle, just that in this case the rubber stick is an
open-chain carbohydrate molecule.
💥There are two structures above, the one on the left is the Haworth
projection and the one on the right is a ball and stick model which
represents the natural 3-D structure of a cyclic carbohydrate.
💥In a Haworth projection, which is now the standard in organic
chemistry for stereochemical carbohydrate illustrations, thicker bonds
between carbon atoms represent those closest to the viewer, and the
hydrogen/hydroxyl bonds below the plane of the carbon atoms represent
those on the right in a Fischer projection. 

🧬CYCLIZATION OF CARBOHYDRATES🧬
💥 Just like I gave an illustration with what Haworth did, he took a rubber
stick and bended it to form a circle. Now let’s talk a little bit about the
chemistry of how this happens. When we react an alcohol with a carbonyl
group we form an acetal, however this acetal can either be hemiacetal (if
alcohol + aldehyde) or hemiketal(if alcohol + ketone). This is the basic
reaction that occurs in the cyclization of carbohydrates. The alcohol is
gotten from the -OH group while the carbonyl group as you know can
either be found on the C-1 in aldoses or on the C-2 in ketoses. So these
species come together, undergo a reaction and form an
ACETAL(hemiacetal or hemiketal).
💥During the cyclization of carbohydrates, there are two carbons on the
open-Chain molecules that are joined together to form the cyclic
carbohydrate. The two carbons are the carbonyl carbon and the highest
numbered chiral carbon(second to the last carbon).
💥When an aldose cyclizes, the -OH group on the second to the last
carbon undergoes an intramolecular reaction with the carbonyl group.
The product resulting from the aldose cyclization is an hemiacetal . The
cyclization of glucose is shown below with the group characteristic of a
hemiacetal shown in red below :

💥When a ketose cyclizes, the hydroxyl group on the second to last carbon
undergoes an intramolecular reaction with the carbonyl group.. The product
resulting from ketose cyclization is a hemiketal. The cyclization of fructose is
shown below with the group characteristic of a hemiketal shown in red. 
💥 Note that in the Fischer projection this particular carbonyl carbon is
achiral but in this Haworth projection it is chiral, for example an open-
chain glucose has {4 chiral carbons) while a cyclic chain has 5 chiral
carbons, there’s an addition of one chiral carbon to the cyclized structure
of a monosaccharide molecule .
💥To see the cyclization reaction in action, refer to the video link below:
https://youtu.be/IOv_I4HGsAE

•PYRANOSE & FURANOSE

💥A six membered cyclic monosaccharide is called a pyranose because it

resembles a pyran.
💥A five membered cyclic monosaccharide is called a furanose because it
resembles a furan.

🧬ANOMERS🧬
💥Just like we have epimers which are monosaccharides which differ in
configuration at ONE of their chiral carbons, it’s the same thing in
ANOMERS, just that in this case the monosaccharides are cyclic .
💥ANOMERS are cyclic monosaccharides or glycosides that are epimers,
differing from each other at their ANOMERIC CARBON. The epimeric
carbon in anomers are known as anomeric carbon or anomeric center.
💥I am sure you remember the carbonyl carbon(the most oxidized
carbon) previously discussed. That same carbonyl carbon in the fischer
projection is the now called “ANOMERIC CARBON” in this Haworth
projection.
•ALPHA(α) and BETA(β) CONFIGURATION
💥A cyclic monosaccharide is said to have an α or β configuration
depending on the orientation of the -OH group on the anomeric carbon
and the -CH2OH group. To assign the α or β) configuration to a cyclic

monosaccharide you look at the arrangement of the -CH2OH group and

the -OH group on the anomeric carbon.
💥If the -CH2OH are both pointing towards the same side(both up or both
down) we assign that cyclic carbohydrate molecule the α configuration.
💥if they are pointing towards opposite sides we assign that carbohydrate
molecule the β configuration.
💥Assessment: The cyclic monosaccharide above should be assigned what
configuration(α or β)?
Forward answer to my dm via the link below:
PIPER https://wa.me/+2348090576193
🧬REDUCING AND NON-REDUCING SUGAR🧬
💥All monosaccharides are reducing sugars along with some
disaccharides, oligosaccharides, polysaccharides.
💥Disaccharides like sucrose and trehalose have glycosidic bonds
between the anomeric carbons , this is why there are non-reducing
sugars(THERE IS NO FREE ANOMERIC CARBON) and it is at the anomeric
carbon that reduction takes place.
💥However, other disaccharides like lactose and maltose are reducing
sugars because only one of their anomeric carbons is involved in the
glycosidic bond.

🧬NUCLEOSIDE – A TYPE OF GLYCOSIDE🧬

💥A glycoside is a molecule in which a sugar is bound to another
functional group via a glycosidic bond, the other functional group could
be an alcohol, amine or thiols. . So a nucleoside is formed when a sugar
molecule is bound to a purine or pyrimidine.
[Note there is a difference between a nucleoside and a nucleotide, a
nucleoside can be found within a nucleotide , when the nucleoside is then
bonded with a phosphate group , it becomes a nucleotide.. text me to get
the BCH nucleic acid break down lecture note to understand clearly]
https://wa.me/+2348090576193
💥Guanosine is an example of a nucleoside.

🧬POLYSACCHARIDES🧬
💥Most polysaccharides are classified according to their biological role:
-Starch & glycogen are storage glycans .
-Cellulose & chitin are structural glycans.

🧬STARCH AND GLYCOGEN🧬

-D-glucose is synthesized in all species .
-Glucose can be broken down to produce metabolic energy .
-Glucose residues are stored as polysaccharides until they are needed for
energy production. When you eat rice, which is a carbohydrate, adequate
amount are digested and broken into glucose and sent to all the cells of
the body to provide energy, the remaining glucose is stored for later use ,
all the glucose are then packed together and stored somewhere in the
body , for example , in the liver for humans. They are stored and
packaged as polysaccharide, either starch or glycogen , depend.
-In plants 🪴, glucose is stored as starch .
-In animals 🐮, glucose is stored as glycogen .

•STARCH
-Starch is a mixture of amylose and amylopectin . These two are both
polysaccharides, because they both contain thousand of monomeric
glucose units.
-Amylopectin makes up 80% of starch while amylose makes up 20%
of starch .
-Amylose is soluble while amylopectin is insoluble .
-Amylose is a straight chain polysaccharide, while amylopectin is
branched chain polysaccharide. Check the diagram below .

-The glucose units in AMYLOSE are connected via an α(1-4) glycosidic

linkage , meaning the carbon-1 of one glucose units connected to the
carbon-4 glucose units . Note that the glucose units should have an α-
configuration. We have discussed what alpha configuration is , scroll up.
-The glucose units in AMYLOPECTIN are connected are branched as we
know . From the diagram above we can see it as two parts , the straight
chain part before it then beaches out. It contains α-1,4-glycosidic bonds
between two glucose units in the straight chain and α-1,6-glycosidic
bonds at the branching
- AMYLASE is an enzyme that helps to breakdown starch. They are two
types , we have the α-amylase and the β-amylase . The α and β amylases
act on the (1,4 glycosidic bonds) . However, the (1,6 glycosidic bonds) are
not substrates for these amylases.
-After hydrolysis of amylopectin , what is left is called LIMIT DEXTRINS.

•GLYCOGEN
- Glycogen is also a branched polymer of glucose residues.
- Glycogen contains the same types of linkages found in
amylopectin, but the branches in glycogen are smaller and
more frequent, occurring every 8 to 12 residues.
- In general, glycogen molecules are larger than starch
molecules, containing up to about 50 000 glucose residues.
- In mammals, depending on the nutritional state, glycogen
can account for up to 10% of the mass of the liver and 2% of the mass of
muscle.

Cellulose and Chitin

- Cellulose is a structural polysaccharide.
- It is a major component of the rigid cell walls that surround
many plant cells.
- The stems and branches of many plants consist largely of
cellulose.
- Like amylose, cellulose is a linear polymer of glucose
residues, but in cellulose the glucose residues are joined by β-
( 1 --> 4) linkages rather than α-( 1 --> 4) linkages.
- The two glucose residues of the disaccharide cellobiose also are
connected by a β-( 1 --> 4) linkage.
- Cellulose molecules vary greatly in size, ranging from about 300
to more than 15,000 glucose residues.
- The linkages of cellulose result in a rigid extended conformation
in which each glucose residue is rotated 180° relative to its
neighbors.
- Enzymes that catalyze the hydrolysis of α-D-glucosidic
bonds (α-glucosidases, such as α- and β-amylase) do not
catalyze the hydrolysis of β-Dglucosidic bonds.
- Similarly, b-glucosidases (such as cellulase) do not
catalyze the hydrolysis of α-D-glucosidic bonds.
- Mammals cannot metabolize cellulose because they lack
enzymes capable of catalyzing the hydrolysis of β-
glucosidic linkages.
- Ruminants such as cows and sheep have microorganisms in
their rumen that produce β-glucosidases.
- Thus, ruminants can obtain glucose from grass and other
plants that are rich in cellulose.
- Because they have cellulase-producing bacteria in their
digestive tracts, termites also can obtain glucose from
dietary cellulose.

- Chitin is a structural homoglycan found in the

exoskeletons of insects and crustaceans and
- also in the cell walls of most fungi and many algae.
- Chitin is a linear polymer similar to cellulose.
- Each GlcNAc residue is rotated 180° relative to its
neighbors.
- The GlcNAc residues in adjacent strands of chitin form
hydrogen bonds with each other, resulting in linear fibrils of
great strength.
- Chitin is often closely associated with nonpolysaccharide
compounds, such as proteins and inorganic material.

CONGRATULATIONS!