Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Biomolecules include large macromolecules such as proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, and nucleic acids, as well as small molecules such as vitamins and hormones. A general name for this class of material is biological materials. Biomolecules are an important element of living organisms.
In 1827, William Prout recognized fat ("oily" alimentary matters), along with protein ("albuminous") and carbohydrate ("saccharine"), as an important nutrient for humans and animals. [13] [14] For a century, chemists regarded "fats" as only simple lipids made of fatty acids and glycerol (glycerides), but new forms were described later.
The most common macromolecules in biochemistry are biopolymers (nucleic acids, proteins, and carbohydrates) and large non-polymeric molecules such as lipids, nanogels and macrocycles. [1] Synthetic fibers and experimental materials such as carbon nanotubes [ 2 ] [ 3 ] are also examples of macromolecules.
It can be made of several thousands of glucose units. It is one of the two components of starch, the other being amylopectin. Polysaccharides (/ ˌ p ɒ l i ˈ s æ k ə r aɪ d /), or polycarbohydrates, are the most abundant carbohydrates found in food. They are long-chain polymeric carbohydrates composed of monosaccharide units bound together ...
Metabolism (/ m ə ˈ t æ b ə l ɪ z ə m /, from Greek: μεταβολή metabolē, "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms.The three main functions of metabolism are: the conversion of the energy in food to energy available to run cellular processes; the conversion of food to building blocks of proteins, lipids, nucleic acids, and some carbohydrates; and the ...
Fat has a food energy content of 38 kilojoules per gram (9 kilocalories per gram) proteins and carbohydrates 17 kJ/g (4 kcal/g). [ 2 ] Water makes up a large proportion of the total mass ingested as part of a normal diet but it does not provide any nutritional value.
Lipid metabolism is the synthesis and degradation of lipids in cells, involving the breakdown and storage of fats for energy and the synthesis of structural and functional lipids, such as those involved in the construction of cell membranes. In animals, these fats are obtained from food and are synthesized by the liver. [1]
Fatty acids that are required for good health but cannot be made in sufficient quantity from other substrates, and therefore must be obtained from food, are called essential fatty acids. There are two series of essential fatty acids: one has a double bond three carbon atoms away from the methyl end; the other has a double bond six carbon atoms ...