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A carbohydrate is a biomolecule consisting of carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) atoms, usually with a hydrogen–oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 (as in water) and thus with the empirical formula C m (H 2 O) n (where m may or may not be different from n), which does not mean the H has covalent bonds with O (for example with CH 2 O, H has a covalent bond with C but not with O).
There are three principal classes of macronutrients: carbohydrate, protein and fat. [1] Macronutrients are defined as a class of chemical compounds which humans consume in relatively large quantities compared to vitamins and minerals which provide humans with energy.
Glucose, used as an energy source and for the synthesis of starch, glycogen and cellulose, is a hexose. Ribose and deoxyribose (in RNA and DNA, respectively) are pentose sugars. Examples of heptoses include the ketoses mannoheptulose and sedoheptulose. Monosaccharides with eight or more carbons are rarely observed as they are quite unstable.
The seven major classes of nutrients are carbohydrates, fats, fiber, minerals, proteins, vitamins, and water. [7] Nutrients can be grouped as either macronutrients or micronutrients (needed in small quantities). Carbohydrates, fats, and proteins are macronutrients, and provide energy. [7] Water and fiber are macronutrients, but do not provide ...
Carbohydrates are typically synthesized by plants during metabolism, and animals have to obtain most carbohydrates from nature, as they have only a limited ability to generate them. They include sugars, oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides. Glucose is the simplest form of carbohydrate. [28]
Carbohydrate metabolism is the whole of the biochemical processes responsible for the metabolic formation, breakdown, and interconversion of carbohydrates in living organisms. Carbohydrates are central to many essential metabolic pathways . [ 1 ]
The carbohydrate, protein and lipid content of plants is highly variable. Carbohydrates are mainly in the form of starch, fructose, glucose and other sugars. [36] Most vitamins are found from plant sources, with exceptions of vitamin D and vitamin B 12. Minerals can also be plentiful or not.
For example, milk sugar (lactose) is a disaccharide made by condensation of one molecule of each of the monosaccharides glucose and galactose, whereas the disaccharide sucrose in sugar cane and sugar beet, is a condensation product of glucose and fructose. Maltose, another common disaccharide, is condensed from two glucose molecules. [7]