The digestion of carbonhydrate as an energy producer food, and as a class of food nutrient, starts right in the mouth. When the enzyme "ptyalin" in the saliva, secreated by the salivary glad, acts on it and converts statch in d mouth to maltose. The end product of carbonhydrate is simple sugar glucose. There are 3 levels of carbonhydrate: The Monossacharide which comprises of one molecule of the simple sugar and it has a general formula, C6H12O6. The simple sugar are: glucose, fructose &galactose. The second level of carbohydrate is the dissacharride. This comprises of two molecules of the simple sugar. This could be glucose + fructose, fructose + galactose or glucose + galactose as the case may be. This has a general formula C12H22O11. The dissacharrides are: maltose(sugar in malt), lactose(found in milk) and sucrose(found in sugarcane). The 3rd level of carbohydrate is the polyssacharride. These are complex carbohydrates, they contain more than 2 simple sugar. Examples are cellulose, starch chitin etc. They have the general formula: (C6H10O5)n, where n represents a complex number. Note: The main components of carbohydrate are Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen. Excess sugar is stored as glycogen(animal fat) in d muscle and liver. This will later reconverted to glucose.
Posted on: Thu, 05 Sep 2013 20:12:47 +0000
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