Moodle Book 7: Important Terms

Fermentation

The enzyme controlled anaerobic breakdown of an energy-rich compound (as a carbohydrate to carbon dioxide and alcohol or to an organic acid)

Glycogen

The storage form of glucose

Homeostasis

Maintenance of conditions within the body (keeping everything in normal range)

Hydrolyze

To undergo a chemical process of decomposition involving the splitting of a bond and the addition of the hydrogen cation and the hydroxide anion of water

Photosynthesis

The process of combining carbon dioxide and water with sunlight

Lignin

A class of complex organic polymers that form key structural materials in the support tissues of most plants; a highly insoluble and biologically unavailable mixture of polymers of phenolic acid