The Importance and Biological Functions of Carbohydrates.
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| Submitted: Thu Jul 11 2002
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The Importance and Biological Functions of Carbohydrates. Carbohydrates have many functions. This essay will look at some of them and also what carbohydrates are constructed of. A Carbohydrate molecule contains Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen. There are twice as many Hydrogens as there are Oxygens, the same proportion as water. Carbohydrates have the general formula of C (H O) Carbohydrates can be divided into three main types. These are monosaccharides (single sugar units), disaccharides (two sugar units) and polysaccharides (many sugar units). Different monosaccharides contain different numbers of carbon atoms. Trioses contain three, pentoses contain five and hexoses six. Carbohydrates have many different functions and come in many different forms. Ribose and Deoxyribose are both pentose monosaccharides and are found in RNA and DNA. Glucose and Fructose are both hexose monosaccharides. Glucose is an important source of energy in respiration and Fructose is found in fruits. Sucrose is a disaccharide formed from Glucose and fructose....

