carbohydrates

     

Carbohyrates (from 'hydrates of carbon') or saccharides (Greek σάκχαρον meaning "sugar") are the most abundant of the four major classes of biomolecules, which also include proteins, lipids and nucleic acids. They fill numerous roles in living things, such as the storage and transport of energy (starch, glycogen) and structural components (cellulose in plants, chitin in animals). Additionally, carbohydrates and their derivatives play major roles in the working process of the immune system, fertilization, pathogenesis, blood clotting, and development.

Trivia about carbohydrates

  • A gym rat may eat a Powerbar to load up on energy, 75% of it coming from these
  • Starches like potatoes are the "complex" type of these compounds
  • These compounds may have "simple" molecules, like sugars, or "complex" ones, like cellulose
  • Simple ones are classified as monosaccharides