Carbohydrates

- Any of a large group of organic compounds occurring in foods and living tissues and
including sugars, starch, and cellulose. They contain hydrogen and oxygen in the same
ratio as water (2:1) and typically can be broken down to release energy in the animal
body.
"water-soluble carbohydrates"
- Food consisting of or containing a lot of carbohydrates.
"before the event I will starve myself of carbohydrates and eat a lot of protein"

Monosaccharide
- From the prefix mono which means one, monosaccharides is the simplest sugarand
the basic subunit of a carbohydrate. These compounds are white solids at room
temperature. Because they have polar, hydroxyl (-OH) groups in their molecular
structures, they are very soluble in water. The most common monosaccharides are
glucose (aso called dextrose) and fructose.

Glucose in water solution forms a ring made up of five carbon atoms and one oxygen atom, and
fructose in a water solution forms a ring made up of four carbon atoms and one oxygen atom.
Both compounds have five-OH groups in their structures.

Compounds with the same molecular formulas are called isomers. So, glucose and fructose are
isomers. Though they have the same molecular formula, these sugars cannot be used in the
same way by cells in the body. The arrangement of the C, H and O atoms determines the shape
and properties of each sugar.

Sometimes we eat too much, especially when we are tired, the excess glucose is stored in the
liver as glycogen fir later use. It is very important to have a steady supply of glucose in the blood
to maintain body functions. As what they say, too much glucose is in the blood, the pancreas
secrete a hormone called insulin which stimulates cells in the liver , muscles and fat to absorb
glucose and transform it into glycogen or fats, which can be stored for a period of time.
Disaccharides
- any of a class of sugars whose molecules contain two monosaccharide residues.

- A disaccharide (also called a double sugar or biose) is the sugar formed when
two monosaccharides (simple sugars) are joined by glycosidic linkage. Like
monosaccharides, disaccharides are soluble in water.

Three common examples are sucrose, lactose,[2] and maltose.

- Disaccharides are one of the four chemical groupings of carbohydrates (

monosaccharides, disaccharides, oligosaccharides,
and polysaccharides ). The most common types of disaccharides - sucrose, lactose,
and maltosehave twelve carbon atoms, with the general formula C12H22O11. The differences
in these disaccharides are due to atomic arrangements within the molecule.

The joining of simple sugars into a double sugar happens by a condensation reaction, which
involves the elimination of a water molecule from the functional groups only. Breaking apart a
double sugar into its two simple sugars is accomplished by hydrolysis with the help of a type
of enzyme called a disaccharidase. As building the larger sugar ejects water molecule,
breaking it down consumes a water molecule. These reactions are vital in metabolism. Each
disaccharide is broken down with the help of a corresponding disaccharidase
(sucrase, lactase, and maltase).

Polysaccharide

- a carbohydrate ( starch, cellulose, or glycogen) whose molecules consist of a number of

sugar molecules bonded together.

Are polymeric carbohydrate molecules composed of long chains of monosaccharide

units bound together by glycosidic linkages and on hydrolysis give the constituent
monosaccharides or oligosaccharides. They range in structure from linear to highly
branched. Examples include storage polysaccharides such as starch and glycogen, and
structural polysaccharides such as cellulose and chitin.
- The breakdown of starch requires a water molecule to provide a hydrogen atom and a
hyroxyl group to the site where the bond is broken .With the help of enzymes in the
digestive system, glucose units can be separated from one another.
Thus, the glucose from starch reaches muscle cells over a period of time providing
energy as it is needed. For this reason, athletes often eat meals rich in complex
carbohydrates before an athletic event. Starch is the chief storage form of carbohydrates
in plants and the most important source of carbohydrate in human nutrition.

Polysaccharides are an important class of biological polymers. Their function in living

organisms is usually either structure- or storage-related. Starch (a polymer of glucose) is
used as a storage polysaccharide in plants, being found in the form of both amylose and
the branched amylopectin. In animals, the structurally similar glucose polymer is the
more densely branched glycogen, sometimes called "animal starch". Glycogen's
properties allow it to be metabolized more quickly, which suits the active lives of moving
animals.

Cellulose and chitin are examples of structural polysaccharides. Cellulose is used in the
cell walls of plants and other organisms, and is said to be the most abundant organic
molecule on Earth.[5] It has many uses such as a significant role in the paper and textile
industries, and is used as a feedstock for the production of rayon (via the viscose
process), cellulose acetate, celluloid, and nitrocellulose. Chitin has a similar structure,
but has nitrogen-containing side branches, increasing its strength. It is found in
arthropod exoskeletons and in the cell walls of some fungi. It also has multiple uses,
including surgical threads. Polysaccharides also include callose or laminarin,
chrysolaminarin, xylan, arabinoxylan, mannan, fucoidan and galactomannan.

Lipids
- any of a class of organic compounds that are fatty acids or their derivatives and are
insoluble in water but soluble in organic solvents. They include many natural oils, waxes,
and steroids.

There is another class of biomolecules called lipids that have the job os storing energy
for later use. Lipids are also found in hormones and cell membrane components.

Although the term lipid is sometimes used as a synonym for fats, fats are a subgroup of
lipids called triglycerides. Lipids also encompass molecules such as fatty acids and their
derivatives (including tri-, di-, monoglycerides, and phospholipids), as well as other
sterol-containing metabolites such as cholesterol.[6] Although humans and other
mammals use various biosynthetic pathways both to break down and to synthesize
lipids, some essential lipids cannot be made this way and must be obtained from the
diet.

The fatty acid structure is one of the most fundamental categories of biological lipids,
and is commonly used as a building-block of more structurally complex lipids. The
carbon chain, typically between four and 24 carbons long,[9] may be saturated or
 unsaturated, and may be attached to functional groups containing oxygen, halogens,
nitrogen, and sulfur. If a fatty acid contains a double bond, there is the possibility of
either a cis or trans geometric isomerism, which significantly affects the molecule's
configuration. Cis-double bonds cause the fatty acid chain to bend, an effect that is
compounded with more double bonds in the chain.

Glycerolipids

- Glycerolipids are composed of mono-, di-, and tri-substituted glycerols,[16] the best-
known being the fatty acid triesters of glycerol, called triglycerides. The word
"triacylglycerol" is sometimes used synonymously with "triglyceride". In these
compounds, the three hydroxyl groups of glycerol are each esterified, typically by
different fatty acids. Because they function as an energy store, these lipids comprise the
bulk of storage fat in animal tissues. The hydrolysis of the ester bonds of triglycerides
and the release of glycerol and fatty acids from adipose tissue are the initial steps in
metabolizing fat.

Glycerophospholipids
- Glycerophospholipids, usually referred to as phospholipids, are ubiquitous in
nature and are key components of the lipid bilayer of cells. As well as being
involved in metabolism and cell signaling. Neural tissue (including the brain)
contains relatively high amounts of glycerophospholipids, and alterations in
their composition has been implicated in various neurological disorders.

Sphingolipids
- Sphingolipids are a complicated family of compounds that share a common structural
feature, a sphingoid base backbone that is synthesized de novo from the amino acid
serine and a long-chain fatty acyl CoA, then converted into ceramides,
phosphosphingolipids, glycosphingolipids and other compounds. The major sphingoid
base of mammals is commonly referred to as sphingosine. Ceramides (N-acyl-sphingoid
bases) are a major subclass of sphingoid base derivatives with an amide-linked fatty
acid.

Sterol lipids
- Sterol lipids, such as cholesterol and its derivatives, are an important component of
membrane lipids. Along with the glycerophospholipids and sphingomyelins. The steroids,
all derived from the same fused four-ring core structure, have different biological roles as
hormones and signaling molecules. The eighteen-carbon (C18) steroids include the
 estrogen family whereas the C19 steroids comprise the androgens such as testosterone
and androsterone

Prenol lipids
- Prenol lipids are synthesized from the five-carbon-unit precursors isopentenyl
diphosphate and dimethylallyl diphosphate that are produced mainly via the mevalonic
acid (MVA) pathway. The simple isoprenoids (linear alcohols, diphosphates, etc.) are
formed by the successive addition of C5 units, and are classified according to number of
these terpene units. Structures containing greater than 40 carbons are known as
polyterpenes.

Saccharolipids
- Saccharolipids describe compounds in which fatty acids are linked directly to a sugar
backbone, forming structures that are compatible with membrane bilayers. In the
saccharolipids, a monosaccharide substitutes for the glycerol backbone present in
glycerolipids and glycerophospholipids. The most familiar saccharolipids are the
acylated glucosamine precursors of the Lipid A component of the lipopolysaccharides in
Gram-negative bacteria.

Polyketides
- Polyketides are synthesized by polymerization of acetyl and propionyl
subunits by classic enzymes as well as iterative and multimodular enzymes
that share mechanistic features with the fatty acid synthases. They comprise
a large number of secondary metabolites and natural products from animal,
plant, bacterial, fungal and marine sources, and have great structural
diversity.

Protein
- any of a class of nitrogenous organic compounds that consist of large
molecules composed of one or more long chains of amino acids and are an
essential part of all living organisms, especially as structural components of
body tissues such as muscle, hair, collagen, etc., and as enzymes and
antibodies.
proteins collectively, especially as a dietary component.
"a diet high in protein"
Proteins differ from one another primarily in their sequence of amino acids,
which is dictated by the nucleotide sequence of their genes, and which
 usually results in protein folding into a specific three-dimensional structure
that determines its activity.

A linear chain of amino acid residues is called a polypeptide. A protein

contains at least one long polypeptide. Short polypeptides, containing less
than 2030 residues, are rarely considered to be proteins and are commonly
called peptides, or sometimes oligopeptides. The individual amino acid
residues are bonded together by peptide bonds and adjacent amino acid
residues. The sequence of amino acid residues in a protein is defined by the
sequence of a gene, which is encoded in the genetic code. In general, the
genetic code specifies 20 standard amino acids; however, in certain
organisms the genetic code can include selenocysteine andin certain
archaeapyrrolysine. Shortly after or even during synthesis, the residues in a
protein are often chemically modified by post-translational modification,
which alters the physical and chemical properties, folding, stability, activity,
and ultimately, the function of the proteins. Sometimes proteins have non-
peptide groups attached, which can be called prosthetic groups or cofactors.
Proteins can also work together to achieve a particular function, and they
often associate to form stable protein complexes.

Proteins may be purified from other cellular components using a variety of

techniques such as ultracentrifugation, precipitation, electrophoresis, and
chromatography; the advent of genetic engineering has made possible a
number of methods to facilitate purification. Methods commonly used to
study protein structure and function include immunohistochemistry, site-
directed mutagenesis, X-ray crystallography, nuclear magnetic resonance
and mass spectrometry.

Nucleic acids
- a complex organic substance present in living cells, especially DNA or RNA, whose
molecules consist of many nucleotides linked in a long chain.
Nucleic acids are biopolymers, or large biomolecules, essential to all known forms of life.
They are composed of monomers, which are nucleotides made of three components: a
5-carbon sugar, a phosphate group, and a nitrogenous base. If the sugar is a simple
ribose, the polymer is RNA (ribonucleic acid); if the sugar is derived from ribose as
deoxyribose, the polymer is DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid).

Nucleic acids are arguably the most important of all biomolecules. They are found in
abundance in all living things, where they function to create and encode and then store
information in the nucleus of every living cell of every life-form organism on Earth. In
turn, they function to transmit and express that information inside and outside the cell
nucleusto the interior operations of the cell and ultimately to the next generation of
each living organism. The encoded information is contained and conveyed via the
nucleic acid sequence, which provides the 'ladder-step' ordering of nucleotides within the
molecules of RNA and DNA.