III) Polysaccharides

III) Polysaccharides

    Starch occurs in the vegetable kingdom. The important sources of starch are
    i)Cereals and millets (65-85 per cent)
    ii)Roots and tubers (19-35 per cent)

    Starch occurs in the form of granules which have characteristic shapes when seen under microscope.
    Starch is a polysaccharide formed in nature by the condensation of a large number (4000-15000) of glucose molecules.
    It consists of a minute of two components called amylose and amylopectin, one molecule of amylose contains 500-5000 glucose molecules while one molecule of amylopectin contains 50,000-500000 glucose molecules.

    Dextrins
    Dextrins are polysaccharides formed by the partial hydrolysis of starch by acids or amylase.

    Glycogen
    Glycogen is the reserve carbohydrate found in liver (3-7 per cent) and muscle (0.5-1 per cent) of animals and man

Last modified: Tuesday, 5 June 2012, 5:29 AM