Carbohydrates Essay
Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen. These three simple elements make up one of the most useful substances for many living organisms: Carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are used for numerous processes in organisms from acting in important roles of cellular recognition in the human body to storing chemical energy in plants in the form or starch.
The roles of carbohydrates in the human body alone are numerous; providing energy for working muscles, providing energy for the regulation of blood glucose, preventing proteins being used for energy, breaking down fatty acids and playing a part in biological recognition processes. Glucose is one of the most commonly known carbohydrates and comes under the category of a monosaccharide. Monosaccharaides are the basic molecular units (monomers) of which carbohydrates are composed. Glucose is vital as it provides energy for cells which provide all the necessary processes and reactions that your body needs to happen to survive. However, it’s not that simple. Glucose as a molecule is too large to fit into cells, so insulin, a hormone which is carried in blood plasma and that binds to receptor sites on liver and muscle cells which causes the cells to become more permeable to glucose allowing the glucose to then be oxidised within the cell during aerobic respiration to produce ATP. ATP is then broken down to provide energy for everyday activities such as walking, or talking.
Excess glucose is converted into glycogen and stored in the liver and muscle tissue that can then act as an instant energy source when needed. It is stored in the cells in the form of granules in the cytoplasm. Glycogen is a polysaccharide (polymer) which alpha glucose is stored as. A polysaccharide is a long chain of monosaccharaides joined together by glysocidic bonds. Glysocidic bonds are covalent bonds that join a carbohydrate molecule to another group. These bonds are formed during a condensation reaction when two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom is removed as
The roles of carbohydrates in the human body alone are numerous; providing energy for working muscles, providing energy for the regulation of blood glucose, preventing proteins being used for energy, breaking down fatty acids and playing a part in biological recognition processes. Glucose is one of the most commonly known carbohydrates and comes under the category of a monosaccharide. Monosaccharaides are the basic molecular units (monomers) of which carbohydrates are composed. Glucose is vital as it provides energy for cells which provide all the necessary processes and reactions that your body needs to happen to survive. However, it’s not that simple. Glucose as a molecule is too large to fit into cells, so insulin, a hormone which is carried in blood plasma and that binds to receptor sites on liver and muscle cells which causes the cells to become more permeable to glucose allowing the glucose to then be oxidised within the cell during aerobic respiration to produce ATP. ATP is then broken down to provide energy for everyday activities such as walking, or talking.
Excess glucose is converted into glycogen and stored in the liver and muscle tissue that can then act as an instant energy source when needed. It is stored in the cells in the form of granules in the cytoplasm. Glycogen is a polysaccharide (polymer) which alpha glucose is stored as. A polysaccharide is a long chain of monosaccharaides joined together by glysocidic bonds. Glysocidic bonds are covalent bonds that join a carbohydrate molecule to another group. These bonds are formed during a condensation reaction when two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom is removed as