Lecture 3

STRUCTURE OF DISACCHARIDES & POLYSACCHARIDES

Composition, sources and properties of common disccharides
Disaccharides

Constituent

Linkage

Source

Properties

monosaccharides
Reducing disaccharides
Maltose

-D-glucose+

(14)

-D-glucose

Germinating

Forms

cereal and

phenylhydrazine.

malt

Fermentable by enzyme

osazone

with

maltase present in yeast.

Hydrolysed

to

two

molecules of D-glucose.
Undergoes mutarotation.
Lactose

-D-glucose+

(14)

-D-glucose

Milk. In trace

It

amounts it

reducing sugars including

can be seen

mutarotation.

in urine

Decomposed

during

Not fermentable by yeast.

pregnancy

Hydrolysed

shows

reactions

by
to

of

alkali.
one

molecule of galactose and

one molecule of glucose
by acids and the enzyme
lactase.
Non-reducing disaccharides
Sucrose

-D-glucose+

,(12)

-D-fructose

Sugar beet,

Fermentable.

sugarcane,

by dilute acids or enzyme

sorghum and

invertase (sucrase) to one

carrot roots

molecule of glucose and

Hydrolysed

one molecule of fructose.

Relatively

stable

to

reaction with dilute alkali.

Trehalose

-D-glucose+
-D-glucose

,(11)

Fungi and

It is hydrolysable by acids

yeast. It is

to glucose with difficulty.

stored as a

Not

reserve food

enzymes.

hydrolysed

supply in
insect's
hemolymph
The oligosaccharides commonly encountered in nature belong to disaccharides.

The physiologically important disaccharides are maltose, lactose, trehalose and

sucrose.

Disaccharides consist of two monosaccharides joined covalently by an Oglycosidic bond.

The hydroxyl group formed as a result of hemiacetal formation is highly reactive

when compared to other hydroxyl groups.

This hydroxyl group present in one monosaccharide reacts with any one of the
hydroxyl groups attached to C-1, C-2, C-3, C-4, or C-6 of another
monosaccharide to produce 11, 12, 13, 14, and 16 linked
disaccharides.

When only one anomeric carbon is involved in glycosidic bond formation,

reducing disaccharides are formed.

If both anomeric carbon atoms of monosaccharides are involved in glycosidic

bond formation that results in the formation of a non-reducing disaccharides such
as

trehalose

(aldosyl-aldosyl

disaccharide)

or

sucrose

(aldosyl-ketosyl

disaccharide)'.

In the case of reducing disaccharides, one end of the molecule having free
anomeric carbon is called reducing end and the other end, where the anomeric
carbon is involved in glycosidic bond, is called as non-reducing end

Reducing disaccharides
Maltose

Maltose is a disaccharide made up of two glucose residue joined by a

glycosidic linkage between C-1 of one glucose residue and C-4 of the other.

The configuration of the anomeric carbon of glucose involved in the linkage is

and hence the glycosidic linkage is

(1 4).

The anomeric carbon atom of the second glucose is free and therefore maltose is
a reducing sugar.

by

The second glucose residue is capable of existing in

Maltose has been recorded occasionally in plants. It is usually obtained as a

or

configuration

product of the enzyme hydrolysis of starch during germination or malting

process.

Maltose

Lactose

Lactose is a reducing disaccharide found only in milk.

It is made up of galactose at the non-reducing end and glucose at the reducing

end.

They are connected by a

(1 4) linkage

Lactose

Non-reducing disaccharides
Trehalose

Trehalose, a non-reducing disaccharide., occurs as a major constituent of the

circulating fluid (hemolymph) of insects and serves as an energy storage
compound.

It is also present to a limited extent in the fat body of a variety of insects.

It gives twice the amount of energy as that of glucose and at the same time
maintains the osmotic balance.

It has been described as an important adaptation of insects engaged in flight.

The anomeric carbons of both glucose moieties are involved in the formation of
glycosidic bond.

Sucrose

Sucrose, a sugar of commercial importance, is widely distributed in higher plants.

Sugarcane and sugar beet are the sole commercial sources.

It is made up of glucose and fructose.

The anomeric carbon atom of glucose (C-1) and fructose (C-2) are involved in
linkage and is therefore a non-reducing disaccharide

Sucrose is a major intermediate product of photosynthesis and it is the

principal form in which sugar is transported from the leaves to other portions of
plants via their vascular systems.

Sucrose

Invert sugar

The hydrolysis of sucrose when followed polarimetrically the optical rotation

changes from positive (dextro-) to negative (levo-).

The dextrorotatory sucrose on hydrolysis yield levorotatory mixture of glucose

and fructose.

The levorotaion is due to the presence of fructose which is by itself more

levorotatory (-92 ) than dextrorototary glucose (+52.2).

This phenomenon is called inversion and the mixture of glucose and fructose is
called invert sugar.

This reaction is catalysed by the enzyme invertase.

Invert sugar is more sweeter than sucrose.

Honey contains plenty of invert sugar and therefore is very sweet.

Sucrosyl oligosaccharides

The degree of polymerization (DP) of sucrosyl oligosaccharides normally

ranges from 3 to 9.

Though sucrose is found at higher concentration in all plants, members of the

sucrosyl oligosaccharides occur at least in traces in each plant family.

The main accumulation of surosyl oligosaccharides is found in storage organs

such as roots, rhizomes and seeds.

The important members of sucrosyl oligosaccharides are raffinose (DP-3),

stachyose (DP-4), verbascose (DP-5) and ajugose (DP-6).

All sucrosyl oligosaccharides are non-reducing in nature .

Raffinose
It occupies the second position next to sucrose in abundance in the plant
kingdom.
Raffinose occurs only at low concentration in the leaves of leguminous
plants, but accumulates in the storage organs such as seeds and roots.
Most of the leguminous seeds contain these oligosaccharides in large
amounts.
Bengal gram has higher amounts of raffinose.
Red gam and green gram have significantly high amounts of verbascose
and stachyose than Bengal gram and black gram.
These sucrosyl oligosaccharides are responsible for flatulence following
the consumption of these legumes.
It serve as reserve material.

 It also contributes to frost resistance

Polysaccharides
The polysaccharides found in nature either serve a structural function (structural
polysaccharides) or play a role as a stored form of energy (storage polysaccharides).
Storage polysaccharides

Starch, galactomanans and inulin are important storage polysaccharides in

plants.

Starch

The principal food-reserve polysaccharide in the plant kingdom is starch.

It forms the major source of carbohydrate in the human diet.

Starch has been found in some protozoa, bacteria and algae. But the major
source is plants where it occurs in the seeds, fruits, leaves, tubers and bulbs in
varying amount from a few percent to over 74%.

Starch is an alpha-glucan that has structurally distinct components called

amylose and amylopectin.

A third component referred as the intermediate fraction has also been identified
in some starches.

Starch molecules are organized into quasicrystalline macromolecular aggregates

called granules.

The shape of the granules are characteristics of the source of the starch.

The two components, amylose and amylopectin, vary in amount among the
different sources from less than 2% of amylose in waxy rice or waxy maize to
about 80% amylose in amylomaize.

The majority of starches contain 15 to 35% of amylose.

The ratio of amylose and amylopectin is a function of the enzymes, granulosis

bound starch synthase (GBSS) and soluble starch synthase (SSS).

GBSS is able to synthesise amylose in a form that is not a substrate for

branching enzyme to form amylopectin.

Waxy mutants containing only amylopectin lack the GBSS but still contain
soluble starch synthase.

Amylose is made up of

- D-glucose units linked mostly in a linear way by

4 linkages

It has a molecular weight of 150,000 to 1,000,000 depending on its

biological origin.

It has been shown that amylose has some elements of nonlinearity.

It consists of a mixture of linear molecules with limited, long-chain

branching involving

1 -6 linkages.

The branches contain several hundred glucose residues.

Amylose gives a characteristic blue color with iodine due to the ability of
the iodine to occupy a position in the interior of a helical coil of glucose
units.

Amylopectin

Pure amylose binds 20% of iodine at 20 C

Amylopectin is a branched, water-insoluble polymer comprised of thousands

of D-glucose residues.

The main chain of amylopectin consists of D-glucose residues joined by

(1 4) glycosidic bonds.

Side chains of glucose residues are attached to the main chain by

(1 6)

glycosidic bonds.

Each chain contains 15-25 glucose residues joined by

It contains 94-96%

The molecular weight of amylopectin is in the order of 107 - 108.

Robin and co-workers have proposed a model for amylopectin

In this model, A and B chains are linear and have degree of polymerization as 15

1 4 and 4-6%

(1->4) bonds.

- 1 6 linkages.

and 45 respectively.

The B chain form the backbone of the amylopectin molecule and extend over two
or more clusters.

Each cluster of A chain are primarily responsible for the crystalline regions within
the granule.

The intercrystalline regions occur at regular intervals (60 - 70

majority of

A) containing the

- 1 - 6 linkages.

The amylopectin molecule is 100 - 150 A in diameter and 1200-4000 A long.

Within the granule, amylose may be located between amylopectin molecules

and associated with the linear regions of the amylopectin molecule.

Amylopectin produces a purple to red color with iodine.

Inulin

Inulin is a non-digestible fructosyl oligosaccharide found naturally in more than

36000 types of plants.

It is a storage polysaccharide found in onion, garlic, chicory, artichoke,

asparagus, banana, wheat and rye.

It consists of mainly,if not exclusively, of

A starting glucose moiety can be present,but is not necessary.

Inulin is asoluble fibre that helps maintain normal bowel function,decreases

- 2->1 fructosyl-fructose links

constipation,lowers cholesrerol and triglycerides.

It is used for fat replacement and fibre enrichment in processed foods.

Structural polysaccharides
Cellulose

Cellulose is the most abundant organic substance found in nature.

It is the principal constituent of cell walls in higher plants.

It occurs in almost pure form (98%) in cotton fibres and to a lessor extent in flax
(80%), jute (60-70%), wood (40-50%) and cereal straws (30-43%).

It is linear, unbranched homoglycan of 10,000 to 15,000 D-glucose units joined

by

-1 4 linkages

The structure of cellulose can be represented as a series of glucopyranose rings

in the chair conformation.

The most stable conformation for the polymer is the chair turned 180 relative to
the adjacent glucose residues yielding a straight extended chain.

Celluose molecules within the plant cell walls are organized into biological units
of structure known as microfibrils.

A microfibril consists of a bundle of cellulose molecules arranged with its long

axis parallel to that of the others.

This arrangement permits the formation of intramolecular hydrogen bonding

between the hydroxyl group of C-3 of one glucose residue and the pyranose ring
oxygen atom of the next glucose residue.

This hydrogen bond impart a double bond character to the glycosidic bond and
impedes the rotation of adjacent glucose residues around the glycosidic bond.

Within the microfibril, the adjacent cellulose molecules are linked by

intermolecular hydrogen bond between C-6 hydroxyl group of one molecule and
the glycosidic bond oxygen atom of adjacent cellulose molecule

The cross section of the microfibril consists of a central crystalline core of about
530 nm short diameters.

The central crystalline core contains around 50-100 cellulose molecules which
are arranged in perfect three dimensional array and exhibits a crystalline
structure.

Surrounding this crystalline core is a region of paracrystalline matrix which

contains about 100 polysaccharide molecules of cellulose and hemicellulose

This region does not have perfect three-dimensional order and water molecules
are able to penetrate the paracrystalline region but not the crystalline core.

Chemical properties of carbohydrates

Monosaccharides
Reactions of monosaccharides are due to the presence of hydroxyl (-OH) and
the potentially free aldehyde (-CHO) or keto ( >C=O) groups.
Reaction with alkali
Dilute alkali

Sugars in weak alkaline solutions undergo isomerization to form 1,2-enediol

followed by the formation of a mixture of sugars.

Strong alkali
Under strong alkaline conditions sugar undergo caramelization reactions.

Reducing property of sugars

Sugars are classified as either reducing or non-reducing depending upon the

presence of potentially free aldehyde or keto groups.

The reducing property is mainly due to the ability of these sugars to reduce metal
ions such as copper or silver to form insoluble cuprous oxide, under alkaline
condition.

The aldehyde group of aldoses is oxidized to carboxylic acid. This

reducingproperty is the basis for qualitative (Fehling's, Benedict's, Barfoed's and
Nylander's tests) and quantitative reactions.

All monosaccharides are reducing. In the case of oligosaccharides, if the

molecule possesses a free aldehyde or ketone group it belongs to reducing
sugar (maltose and lactose).

If the reducing groups are involved in the formation of glycosodic linkage., the
sugar belongs to the non- reducing group (trehalose, sucrose, raffinose and
stachyose).

Reaction with phenylhydrazine

When reducing sugars are heated with phenylhydrazine at pH 4.7 a yellow

precipitate is obtained.

The precipitated compound is called as osazone. One molecule of reducing

sugar reacts with three molecules of phenylhydrazine.

D-mannose and D-fructose form same type of osazone as that of D-glucose

since the configuration of C-3, C-4, C-5 and C-6 is same for all the three sugars.

The osazone of D-galactose is different.

Different sugars form osazone at different rates. For example, D-fructose forms
osazone more readily than D-glucose.

The osazones are crystalline solids with characteristic shapes, decomposition

points and specific optical rotations.

The time of formation and crystalline shape of osazone is utilized for identification
of sugars.

If methyl phenylhydrazine is used instead of phenylhydrazine in the preparation

of osazone, only ketoses react.

This reaction serves to distinguish between aldose and ketose sugars.

Reaction with acids

Monosaccharides are generally stable to hot dilute mineral acids though ketoses
are appreciably decomposed by prolonged action.

Heating a solution of hexoses in a strong non-oxidising acidic conditions,

hydroxyl methyl furfural is formed.

The hydroxymethyl furfural from hexose is usually oxidized further to other

products When phenolic compounds such as resorcinol,

-naphthol or anthrone

are added, mixture of coloured compounds are formed

The molisch test used for detecting carbohydrate in solution is based on this
principle.

When conc. H2SO4 is added slowly to a carbohydrate solution containing

naphthol, a pink color is produced at the juncture.

The heat generated during the reaction hydrolyse and dehydrate it to produce
furfural or hydroxymethyl furfural which then react with
the pink color.

-naphthol to produce