BIOLOGICAL MACROMOLECULES: Carbohydrates (Vocabulary)

Vocabulary flashcards covering carbohydrate structure, classification (monosaccharides, disaccharides, polysaccharides), and plant/animal storage and structural polysaccharides, including glycosidic bonds and ring forms.

Glucose

A hexose monosaccharide (C6H12O6) that serves as a major energy source in humans and can exist in linear or ring form.

Monosaccharide

A simple sugar; the basic unit of carbohydrates, usually containing 3–7 carbons and ending in -ose.

Aldose

A monosaccharide with an aldehyde group (e.g., glucose, galactose).

Ketose

A monosaccharide with a ketone group (e.g., fructose).

Hexose

A monosaccharide with six carbons (e.g., glucose, galactose, fructose).

Anomeric carbon

C-1 in a sugar ring that becomes asymmetric and determines α or β configuration.

Alpha (α) anomer

Hydroxyl at C-1 below the ring plane in the ring form.

Beta (β) anomer

Hydroxyl at C-1 above the ring plane in the ring form.

Glycosidic bond

Covalent bond formed between monosaccharides during dehydration synthesis; links carbohydrates and can be α or β.

Alpha glycosidic bond

Glycosidic linkage where the C-1 OH is below the ring plane.

Beta glycosidic bond

Glycosidic linkage where the C-1 OH is above the ring plane.

Disaccharide

A carbohydrate formed from two monosaccharides via dehydration synthesis (e.g., lactose, maltose, sucrose).

Sucrose

Disaccharide of glucose and fructose; table sugar; linkage between C1 of glucose and C2 of fructose.

Lactose

Disaccharide of glucose and galactose; found in milk.

Maltose

Disaccharide composed of two glucose units.

Polysaccharide

Long chain of monosaccharides linked by glycosidic bonds; may be branched; examples include starch, glycogen, cellulose, and chitin.

Amylose

Unbranched form of starch; glucose monomers linked by 1–4 glycosidic bonds.

Amylopectin

Branched form of starch; contains 1–4 linkages in linear segments and 1–6 linkages at branch points.

Starch

Storage carbohydrate in plants; composed of amylose and amylopectin (glucose polymers).

Glycogen

Storage form of glucose in animals; highly branched; stored in liver and muscle; glycogenolysis releases glucose.

Cellulose

Polysaccharide in plant cell walls; glucose units linked by β-1,4 glycosidic bonds; linear and fibrous; not digestible by humans.

Chitin

Nitrogen-containing polysaccharide made of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine units; forms arthropod exoskeletons and fungal cell walls.