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Starch
Polysaccharides are carbohydrate polymers consisting of tens to hundreds to several
thousand monosaccharide units. All of the common polysaccharides contain glucose as
the monosaccharide unit. Polysaccharides are synthesized by plants, animals, and humans
to be stored for food, structural support, or metabolized for energy.
Starch:
Plants store glucose as the polysaccharide starch. The cereal grains (wheat, rice, corn,
oats, barley) as well as tubers such as potatoes are rich in starch.
Starch can be separated into two fractions--amylose and amylopectin. Natural starches
are mixtures of amylose (10-20%) and amylopectin (80-90%).
Carbon # 1 is called the anomeric carbon and is the center of an acetal functional group.
A carbon that has two ether oxygens attached is an acetal.
The Alpha position is defined as the ether oxygen being on the opposite side of the ring
as the C # 6. In the chair structure this results in a downward projection. This is the same
definition as the -OH in a hemiacetal.
As a result of the bond angles in the alpha acetal linkage, amylose actually forms a spiral
much like a coiled spring.
The graphic on the left shows very small portion of an amylopectin-type structure
showing two branch points [drawn closer together than they should be]. The acetal
linkages are alpha connecting C # 1 of one glucose to C # 4 of the next glucose.
In glycogen, the branches occur at intervals of 8-10 glucose units, while in amylopectin
the branches are separated by 10-12 glucose units.
Compare Cellulose and Starch Structures:
Cellulose: Beta glucose is the monomer unit in cellulose. As a result of the bond angles
in the beta acetal linkage, cellulose is mostly a linear chain.
Starch: Alpha glucose is the monomer unit in starch. As a result of the bond angles in the
alpha acetal linkage, starch-amylose actually forms a spiral much like a coiled spring.
Cellulose:
The major component in the rigid cell walls in plants is cellulose. Cellulose is a linear
polysaccharide polymer with many glucose monosaccharide units. The acetal linkage is
beta which makes it different from starch. This peculiar difference in acetal linkages
results in a major difference in digestibility in humans. Humans are unable to digest
cellulose because the appropriate enzymes to breakdown the beta acetal linkages are
lacking. (More on enzyme digestion in a later chapter.) Undigestible cellulose is the fiber
which aids in the smooth working of the intestinal tract.
Animals such as cows, horses, sheep, goats, and termites have symbiotic bacteria in the
intestinal tract. These symbiotic bacteria possess the necessary enzymes to digest
cellulose in the GI tract. They have the required enzymes for the breakdown or hydrolysis
of the cellulose; the animals do not, not even termites, have the correct enzymes. No
vertebrate can digest cellulose directly.
Even though we cannot digest cellulose, we find many uses for it including: Wood for
building; paper products; cotton, linen, and rayon for clothes; nitrocellulose for
explosives; cellulose acetate for films.
Because the bacterial alpha-amylase to be used in this experiment randomly attacks only
the alpha-1,4 bonds, it belongs to the liquefying category. The hydrolysis reaction
catalyzed by this class of enzymes is usually carried out only to the extent that, for
example, the starch is rendered soluble enough to allow easy removal from starch-sized
fabrics in the textile industry. The paper industry also uses liquefying amylases on the
starch used in paper coating where breakage into the smallest glucose subunits is actually
undesirable. (One cannot bind cellulose fibers together with sugar!)
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It is a protein with catalytic activity. An enzyme is a biological catalyst able to accelerate several folds a
chemical reaction.
All enzymes are proteins, but not all proteins are enzymes.
Enzymes are produced by cells, but enzymes are not capable of reproduction.
Enzymes are, therefore, not "alive", but are biologically active under certain conditions of pH, temperature,
medium composition, etc.
Enzymes are active under relatively mild reaction conditions.
Enzymes are not infectious to individuals or polluting the environment.
Contrary to inorganic catalysts (i.e., heavy metals) enzymes are extremely specific, which means that each
enzyme can break or form a single type of chemical bond in a given chemical compound or structure.
Furthermore, enzyme-catalyzed reactions take place under mild conditions of temperature (30-70°C), pH
(between pH 4.5 and 9), pressure (atmospheric), etc., and are to be viewed as eco-compatible, as they do
not generate polluting residues or toxic by-products.
There are instances where enzymes can be employed to catalyze some reactions even at extreme
temperatures (beyond 100°C, as is the case for high-temperature amylases ) or of pH (up to pH 12, such as
with alkaline proteases used in leather applications).
There are numerous applications of enzymes, in the fields of industrial chemistry and food processing,
amongst which the following should be mentioned: