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Carbohydrates for pre-health biology Students

Terms in this set (31)

monosaccharides
glucose, fructose, galactose - they all have the same formula: C6H12O6 (a 2:1 ratio of C/O to H)
disaccharides
sucrose, lactose, maltose - made of 2 monosaccharides.
sucrose
glucose + fructose (table sugar)
lactose
glucose + galactose (milk sugar)
lactase
enzyme that breaks down lactose. Lactose tolerance represents the amount of lactase you can make - some people make lots, others not so much.
glycoprotein
short sugar chains attached to proteins - important as antigens that identify cells; also important in how cells communicate with neighboring cells.
What is a typical blood sugar?
70-120 mg/dL
How does blood sugar come down?
Glucose in the blood enters cells. Insulin is required for glucose to enter cells.
What happens to ingested fructose?
It must be handled by the liver. It is too unstable to travel in the bloodstream. It is metabolized similarly to alcohol. Excess amounts are converted to triglycerides.
What does the liver do with excess ingested carbohydrate?
converts them to triglycerides to be stored as fat.
starch
A storage polysaccharide in plants consisting entirely of long chains of glucose.
glycogen
An extensively branched glucose storage polysaccharide found in the liver and muscle of animals
peptidoglycan
A protein-carbohydrate compound that makes the cell walls of bacteria rigid
cellulose
polysaccharide consisting of glucose monomers that reinforces plant-cell walls - indigestible by humans so it is also called dietary fiber.
chitin
Polysaccharide found in arthropod exoskeletons
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