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'With reference to their chemical structures and properties, describe why starch, glycogen and cellulose are efficient storage or structural compounds.'
Member rating: No Rating | Words: | Submitted: Fri Sep 12 2003
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'With reference to their chemical structures and properties, describe why starch, glycogen and cellulose are efficient storage or structural compounds.' Starch is a complex carbohydrate, it's a mixture of amylose and amylopectin both of which are polysaccharides containing ?-glucose molecules linked via a condensation reaction. Amylose is a long, straight chain of ?-glucose molecules, these are linked together by a 1,4 glycosidic bond, where 1 & 4 are carbon reducing centres. + +... ?-glucose molecule ?-glucose molecule = + H20 amylose These chains of ?-glucose coil to form spirals and these are held in place by hydrogen bonds. Amylopectin, on the other hand, is a branched chain due to some of its glucose residues joining via a 1,6 glycosidic bond, however this is still formed by a condensation reaction. Due to starch being made up from amylose and amylopectin which are both polysaccharides and produced by a condensation reaction, starch can easily be broken down when H20 is added and...
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