Tag: Chemical biology

Over 90% of carbohydrate digestion occurs in the small intestine, a process initiated by specialized enzymes. To understand what enzyme breaks down the disaccharide as shown below, one must first identify the specific type of disaccharide molecule and then pinpoint the matching brush-border enzyme responsible for its hydrolysis.

Over 90% of glucose in an aqueous solution exists in its cyclic, rather than linear, form. The cyclic structure of glucose gives rise to two distinct stereoisomers, known as α-D-glucose and β-D-glucose, which have an important anomeric relationship that influences their chemical and biological properties.

Monosaccharides, known as simple sugars, are the fundamental building blocks of all other carbohydrates, a fact that forms the basis for their classification. This article explores why monosaccharides are indeed the simplest form of carbohydrates, examining their unique structure and contrasting them with more complex carbohydrate molecules.