Naturally occur ring compounds, consisting of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, whose primary function in the body is to supply energy. Included in the carbohydrate group are sugars, starches, cellulose, and various other substances. Most carbohydrates are produced by green plants in the process of undergoing photosynthesis.
A substance that speeds up a chemical reaction without participating in it. Catalysts, of which enzymes are a good example, thus are not consumed in the reaction.
A polysaccharide, made from units of glucose, that is the principal material in the cell walls of plants. Cellulose also is found in natural fibers, such as cotton, and is used as a raw material in manufacturing such products as paper.
A disaccharide, polysaccharide, or oligosaccharide. Also called a complex sugar.
Another name for glucose.
A double sugar, composed of two monosaccharides. Exam ples of disaccharides include the isomers sucrose, maltose, and lactose.
A protein material that speeds up chemical reactions in the bodies of plants and animals.
Fruit sugar, a monosaccharide that is an isomer of glucose.
A monosaccharide and isomer of glucose. Less soluble and sweet than glucose, galactose usually appears in combination with other simple sugars rather than by itself.
A monosaccharide that occurs widely in nature and is the form in which animals usually receive carbohydrates. Also known as dextrose, grape sugar, and corn sugar.
A white polysaccharide that is the most common form in which carbohydrates are stored in animal tissues, particularly muscle and liver tissues.
A term that refers to all or part of the alimentary canal, through which foods pass from the mouth to the intestines and wastes move from the intestines to the anus. Although the word is considered a bit crude in everyday life, physicians and bio logical scientists concerned with this part of the anatomy use it regularly.
Two substances that have the same chemical formula but differ in chemical structure and therefore in chemical properties.
Milk sugar. A disaccharide isomer of sucrose and maltose, lactose is the only major type of sugar that is produced from animal (i.e., mammal) rather than vegetable sources.
A fermentable sugar generally formed from starch by the action of the enzyme amylase. Maltose is a disaccharide isomer of sucrose and lactose.
The simplest type of carbohydrate. Monosaccharides, which cannot be broken down chemically into simpler carbohydrates, also are known as simple sugars. Examples of monosaccharides include the isomers glucose, fructose, and galactose.
A carbohydrate containing a known, small number of monosaccharide units, typically between three and six. Compare with polysaccharide.
The biological conversion of light energy (that is, electromagnetic energy) from the Sun to chemical energy in plants. In this process, carbon dioxide and water are converted to carbohydrates and oxygen.
A carbohydrate composed of more than six monosaccharides. A polysaccharide sometimes is defined as containing two or more monosaccharides, but this definition does little to distinguish it from an oligosaccharide.
A sugar.
A monosaccharide, or simple carbohydrate.
Complex carbohydrates, without taste or odor, which are granular or powdery in physical form.
Common table sugar (C 12 H 22 O 11 ), a disaccharide formed from the bonding of a glucose molecule with a molecule of fructose. Sugar beets and cane sugar provide the principal natural sources of sucrose, which the average American is most likely to encounter in refined form as white, brown, or powdered sugar.
One of the three principal types of carbohydrate, along with starches and cellulose. Sugars can be defined as any of various water-soluble carbohydrates of varying sweetness. What we think of as "sugar" (i.e., table sugar) is actually sucrose.
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