General Veterinary Biochemistry

BIOLOGICAL IMPORTANCE OF CARBOHYDRATES

• Carbohydrates provide the majority of energy in most organisms.
• Glucose is stored as glycogen in liver and muscle.
• Carbohydrates (e.g. cellulose) give structure to cell walls (in plants) and cell membranes.
• Carbohydrates serve as metabolic intermediates (e.g. glucose 6- phosphate, fructose –1,6 –bisphosphate).The metabolic intermediates derived from glucose are used for the biosynthesis of amino acids, nucleic acid and nucleotides.
• Carbohydrates (e.g. ribose, deoxyribose) comprise large portions of the nucleotides that form DNA and RNA.
• Carbohydrates also play a role in lubrication, cellular intercommunication and immunity.
• It plays an important role in the metabolism of proteins and fatty acids.