LECTURER :
MR. NW
CARBOHYDRATES MOKOENA
DATE:06 March 2018
1
LESSON OBJECTIVES
At the end of this lesson students should be able to:
Define carbohydrates
Differentiate between mono,di- and polysaccharides
List the functions of carbohydrates
List the health functions of dietary fiber
Identify different biochemical structures of
monosaccharaides
2
INTRODUCTION (1)
Carbohydrates are organic compounds that consist of carbon,
hydrogen and oxygen.
Sugars and starches are different sorts of carbohydrates
In their simplest form the general formula is CHO.
They vary from simple sugars containing from three to
seven carbon atoms to very complex polymers.
Only the 6 carbon sugars (hexoses) and 5 carbon sugars
(pentoses) and their polymers play an important role in
nutrition.
Sugars can refer either to a group of nutrients (glucose,
sucrose ..) or to food/table sugar (refined sugar )
There are several sorts of sugars in foods
Lactose- milk
Sucrose- sugar cane
Fructose and glucose - sugar cane and honey
3
INTRODUCTION (2)
Glucose and fructose are “simple sugars”. (Body cells can
only use simple sugars)
Some sugars are made up of two simple sugars.
Lactose - Glucose and Galactose
Sucrose – Glucose and Fructose
Maltose-Glucose and Glucose
This means that when lactose, sucrose and maltose are
digested they break down into glucose & galactose,
glucose & fructose and glucose & glucose respectively.
Starches are the main sort of carbohydrates in cereals
(such as rice, maize and wheat) & starchy roots.
4
INTRODUCTION (3)
Each starch molecule is made up of many glucose
molecules.
When starch is digested in the gut, it breaks down into
glucose.
The glucose is absorbed into the blood and goes to the
cells to provide energy.
Starch is stored in side the grain of plant cells
(endosperm)
When a starchy food is boiled, the grains absorb water.
They swell up and might break.
This makes the starch easier to digest and may make the
food to swell up as in rice swelling two or three times. 5
CLASSIFICATION
Carbohydrate classification reflects that all forms, from
glucose to the more complex ones are related to simple
sugars (saccharides).
Monosaccharides - simplest forms.
Disaccharides - give two monosaccharides.
Oligosaccharides - yield from 3 to 10 monosaccharides
6
FUNCTIONS
They are a major source of energy-provides energy in
every cell of the body. The central nervous system, lungs,
adrenal cortex & red blood cells uses glucose only as a
source of energy.
CHO has a protein sparing effect.-when supplies in
sufficient amounts, the body will use CHO preferentially
as a source of energy thus sparing protein for body
building.
CHO can be used in making non essential amino acids,
fats and components of hereditary material ,DNA & RNA
CHO serve as carries of carotene, water soluble vitamins
& minerals and sources of fibre
7
MONOSACCHARIDES (1)
The principal monosaccharides that occur in food are
glucose and fructose.
They may exist either as an open-chain or a ring structure.
Glucose is abundant in fruits, sweet corn, corn syrup and
honey.
It is the principal product formed by hydrolysis of more
complex carbohydrates in digestion and the form of sugar
normally found in the blood stream.
It is oxidised in the cells as a source of energy and stored
in the liver and muscles in the form of glycogen
Under normal conditions the nervous system can only use
glucose as a major fuel source. 8
MONOSACCHARIDES (2)
Fructose (fruit sugar) is found together with glucose in
fruit and honey.
It is the sweetest of all the sugars.
Large quantities can be manufactured relatively
inexpensively from starch, and it is used commercially in
sweeteners.
Soft drinks may be sweetened with high-fructose corn
syrup.
Galactose is not found free in nature, but is produced
from lactose (milk sugar) by hydrolysis in the digestive
system.
9
DISACCHARIDES (1)
Three most common disaccharides.
At least one of the monosaccharides is glucose.
Sucrose = glucose + fructose
Maltose = glucose + glucose.
Lactose = glucose and galactose
Sucrose is ordinary table sugar.
It is found mainly in sugar cane, corn syrup, maple syrup
as well as in fruit, vegetables and honey.
When hydrolysed by digestive enzymes sucrose is
converted to a mixture of equal parts of glucose and
fructose
10
DISACCHARIDES (2)
Maltose does not occur freely in nature.
It is created during digestion of starch- disaccharide containing
two glucose molecules.
This occurs in nature when the seed of a cereal grain sprouts and
its enzymes convert the grain starch to maltose.
Barley malt for example is used as a sweetener in some
products.
A similar reaction occurs in beer manufacturing, when starch is
hydrolysed by diastase(a plant enzyme) obtained from sprouting
grain.
Lactose is the principal sugar found in milk.
It does not occur in plants and is limited almost exclusively to
mammary glands of lactating animals.
It is less soluble than other disaccharides and is not very sweet.
11
POLYSACCHARIDES (1)
Polysaccharides of interest in nutrition include: starch,
dextrin, glycogen and cellulose
They are all assembled from glucose units, differing only in
the kind of linkage.
Other polysaccharides may contain monosaccharides other
than glucose.
Starch and glycogen are generally completely digestible.
Other polysaccharides are partly or completely indigestible.
Starch is found only in plants.
It occurs in both the amylose form (long straight chains of
glucose units) and the amylopectin form (branched chains
of glucose units).
12
POLYSACCHARIDES (2)
Starch granules of varying sizes and shapes are encased
within the plant cells by cellulose walls.
They are insoluble in cold water.
Cooking causes the granules to swell and the mixture to
gel.
Cooking also softens and ruptures the cell to make the
starch available enzymatic digestive processes.
Modified starch is a popular thickening agent used in
commercially prepared food such as salad dressings,
canned soups, pie fillings, gravies and canned puddings.
The modification process permits the retention of
desirable thickening properties lost in ordinary starch
after cooking.
13
POLYSACCHARIDES (3)
Dextrins are intermediate products of starch digestion.
Glycogen is a storage form of carbohydrates in humans and is the
primary and the most readily available source of glucose.
Cellulose and hemicellulose constitute the cellular frame work of
plants.
It resembles starch however, the glucose in molecules are linked in
a form of bonding that resists the action of enzymes.
It occurs only in plant material: fruit and vegetable pulp, skins,
stalks, leaves and outer coverings of the grains, nuts seeds and
legumes.
Pectin is made up of units of galactose derivative.
It absorbs water and forms gel and because of these properties it is
used for making jellies.
Gums and mucillages are similar to pectin except that the galactose
is combined with other sugars.
They are found in plant secretions or seeds and are often added to
processed foods to confer specific qualities.
14
SWEETENERS
Synthetic compounds that may be used to sweeten food.
Divided into nutritive and non-nutritive.
Nutritive sweeteners provides calories and non-nutritive sweeteners
are calorie free.
Cyclamates and Saccharine are the most common non-nutritive
sweeteners.
Acesulfame potassium(Acesulfame –k) is also used as a non-nutritive
sweetener.
The nutritive sweeteners include sucrose, fructose, glucose and sugar
alcohols such as mannitol, xylitol and sorbitol.
Sugar alcohols are commonly used in diabetic or low - or no-sugar
products. Sorbitol being the most common.
Although they taste sweet, their absorption and metabolism dif fers
from sugar.
Aspartame, a nutritive sweetener, marketed as Nutra-Sweet is 200X
sweeter than table sugar.
Aspartame is composed of two amino acids phenyl alanine and
aspartic acid. People suffering from Phenyl ketonuria, should not
consume aspartame. 15
THANK YOU
16
