Polysaccharides
Polysaccharides
Polysaccharides
Polysaccharides
Polysaccharides are polymeric carbohydrate molecules composed of long chains of monosaccharide units bound together by glycosidic bonds. Hydrolysis produces many molecules of monosaccharide. Can be formed from pentoses the 5 carbon sugars or the hexoses the six carbon sugars. Those from pentoses are called pentosans Those from hexoses are hexosans or sometimes called the glucosans. They range in structure from linear to highly branched.
Polysaccharides
The
hexosans have the general formula ( )x. Where x is a large number. Some of the common hexosans are starch, cellulose and dextrin.
Storage Polysaccharides
Starch
Insoluble in water Gives a characteristic blue color with iodine. Test is used to determine the presence of starch in any solution or even to test for iodine.
When starch is hydrolyzed, it form dextrin (amylodextrin, erythrodextrin, achroodextrin) than maltose and finally glucose. Erythrodextrins turns red in the presence of iodine. Both maltose and glucose produce no color.
Starch
blue colorless
maltose
Glycogen
Is present in the body and stored in the liver and muscles. Where it supplies glucose. Forms a colloidal solution in water and gives a red color with iodine. Glycogen is formed in the body cells from molecules of glucose. In a process called glycogenesis. When glycogen is hydrolyzed to glucose, the process is called glycogenolysis.
Structural Polysaccharides
Cellulose
The supporting and structural substance of plants. It gives bulk to the feces and prevents constipation. Does not dissolve in water. Gives no color test with iodine. Wood, cotton and paper are composed primarily of cellulose.
Dextrin
Produced during the hydrolysis of starch. An intermediate between starch and maltose. Used in the preparation of adhesives. Forms sticky colloidal suspensions with water.
Heparin
Is a polysaccharide used as blood anticoagulant. It accelerates the inactivation of thrombin and other blood-clotting agents Its the strongest organic acid found in the body
Chitin
Is a long-chain polymer of a Nacetylglucosamine, a derivative of glucose. It is the main component of the cell walls of fungi, the exoskeletons of arthropods and insects. The structure of chitin is comparable to the polysaccharide cellulose, forming crystalline