disaccharide

Examples of disaccharide in the following topics:

• Disaccharides

  • Four examples of disaccharides composed of two glucose units are shown in the following diagram.
  • Acid-catalyzed hydrolysis of these disaccharides yields glucose as the only product.
  • Trehalose, a disaccharide found in certain mushrooms, is a bis-acetal, and is therefore a non-reducing sugar.
  • Disaccharides made up of other sugars are known, but glucose is often one of the components.
  • Two important examples of such mixed disaccharides will be displayed in the second diagram above.

• Carbohydrate Molecules

  • Carbohydrates are classified into three subtypes: monosaccharides, disaccharides, and polysaccharides.
  • Common disaccharides include lactose, maltose, and sucrose.
  • Lactose is a disaccharide consisting of the monomers glucose and galactose.
  • Maltose, or malt sugar, is a disaccharide formed by a dehydration reaction between two glucose molecules.
  • The most common disaccharide is sucrose, or table sugar, which is composed of the monomers glucose and fructose.

• Chemical Digestion of Carbohydrates, Proteins, Lipids, and Nucleic Acids

  • Sucrase is an enzyme that breaks down disaccharide sucrose, commonly known as table sugar, cane sugar, or beet sugar.
  • Lactase is an enzyme that breaks down the disaccharide lactose into its component parts, glucose and galactose, which can also be absorbed by the small intestine.

• Types of Biological Macromolecules

  • Regular table sugar is the disaccharide sucrose (a polymer), which is composed of the monosaccharides fructose and glucose (which are monomers).
  • The carbohydrate monosaccharides (fructose and glucose) are joined to make the disaccharide sucrose.

• Importance of Carbohydrates

  • One major class of biological macromolecules are carbohydrates, which are further divided into three subtypes: monosaccharides, disaccharides, and polysaccharides .
  • Carbohydrates are biological macromolecules that are further divided into three subtypes: monosaccharides, disaccharides, and polysaccharides.

• The Cell Wall of Bacteria

  • Peptidoglycan is a huge polymer of disaccharides (glycan) cross-linked by short chains of identical amino acids (peptides) monomers.

• Mechanisms of Chemical Digestion

  • Carbohydrates are taken in mainly in the form of plant carbohydrate (amylose) and animal carbohydrate (glycogen) together with some sugars, mainly disaccharides.
  • This breaks amylose down into mainly disaccharides, and glycogen with its 1:6 linkages into polysaccharides .
  • The net result of these actions are numerous disaccharides and polysaccharides.

• Digestion and Absorption

  • The salivary enzyme amylase begins the breakdown of food starches into maltose, a disaccharide.
  • Pancreatic juices also contain amylase, which continues the breakdown of starch and glycogen into maltose and other disaccharides.
  • These disaccharides are then broken down into monosaccharides by enzymes called maltases, sucrases, and lactases.

• Carbohydrates: Sources, Uses in the Body, and Dietary Requirements

  • Many organisms also have the ability to metabolize other monosaccharides and disaccharides, though glucose is preferred.

• Absorption and Feces Formation in the Large Intestine

  • In humans, these include most complex saccharides (at most, three disaccharides are digestible by humans).