Biokimia Umum

POLISAKARIDA

Presented By:
Roby Sudarman : F1C1 08 043
Asmawati Aziz: F1C1 07 023
CONTENTS
Pengertian Polisakarida

Pembagian Polisakarida

Struktur Polisakarida

Sifat dan Fungsi Polisakarida

 Pendahuluan

 Aktivitas dalam kehidupan sehari-hari Karbohidrat, dalam hal ini

memerlukan energi yang diperoleh dari glukosa, dibentuk dari
bahan makanan yang kita makan.
 Bahan makanan itu berasal dari tumbuhan karbondioksida dan air
dan senyawa yang terkandung di dalamnya dengan bantuan sinar
sebagian besar adalah karbohidrat, yang matahari dan klorofil
terdapat sebagai amilum atau pati.
 Di samping karbohidrat yang menjadi bahan dalam daun.
makanan, terdapat karbohidrat yang tidak
dapat dimakan seperti kayu, serat kapas dan
tumbuhan lain yaitu sebagai selulosa.
 Karbohidrat yang berasal dari makanan
mengalami metabolisme yang menghasilkan
glukosa yang terdapat
Selanjutnya, dalam yang
glukosa darah, terjadi
sedangkan
diubahglikogen yangamilum
menjadi disintesisdan
dalam
disimpan
hati digunakan oleh sel-sel pada jaringan
pada sumber
otot sebagai bagianenergi.
lain, misalnya pada buah
atau umbi.
Fotosintesis Tumbuhan

urease

kristalografi sinar-X
 Pengertian dan Sifat Umum
 Polisakarida merupakan produk kondensasi dari banyak
sakarida sebagai monomernya yaitu lebih dari 10 unit
monosakarida.
 Karbohidrat kompleks ini dapat mengandung sampai tiga
ribu unit gula sederhana yang tersusun dalam bentuk rantai
panjang lurus atau bercabang dan dapat dihidrolisis dengan
enzim-enzim tertentu.
 Umumnya polisakarida berupa senyawa berwarna putih dan
tidak berbentuk kristal, tidak mempunyai rasa manis dan
tidak mempunyai sifat mereduksi.
 Berat molekul polisakarida bervariasi dari beberapa ribu
hingga lebih dari satu juta.
 Polisakarida yang dapat larut dalam air akan membentuk
larutan koloid.
 Pengertian dan Sifat Umum
 Berbagai polisakarida seperti pati banyak terdapat umbi-
umbian dan serealia.

 Pada hasil ternak, khususnya daging, karbohidrat terdapat

dalam bentuk glikogen yang disimpan dalam jaringan otot
dan dalam hati.
 Selama proses pematangan, kandungan pati dalam buah-
buahan berubah menjadi gula-gula pereduksi yang akan
menimbulkan rasa manis.
 Polisakarida dalam bahan makanan berfungsi sebagai
penguat tekstur (selulosa, hemiselulosa, dan senyawaan
pektat) dan sebagai sumber energi (pati, dekstrin, glikogen,
dan fruktan). Polisakarida penguat tekstur ini tidak dapat
dicerna tubuh, tetapi merupakan serat-serat (dietary fiber)
yang dapat menstimulasi enzim-enzim pencernaan.
Pembagian Polisakarida
• Homopolisakarida

 Pentosan: arabinoxylan, xylan

 Heksosan: glukan (amilum, selulosa, glikogen, dekstrin) fruktan

(inulin), mannan, galaktan, khitin
• Heteropolisakarida:

 Senyawaan pektat, Galaktan sulfat (agar, karagenan),

Galaktomannan (gum guar), alginat (polimanuronat-guluronat)

Polisakarida dalam bahan hasil pertanian:

• Polisakarida cadangan makanan: pati, inulin, glikogen

• Polisakarida struktural: selulosa, hemiselulosa, senyawaan pektat,

khitin
 Arabinoxylan
Arabinoxylan is a hemicellulose found in both the primary and secondary
cell walls of plants, including woods and cereal grains, consisting of
copolymers of two pentose sugars – arabinose and xylose.

Arabinoxylan molecule contains a chain of 1,4-linked xylose units. Many

xylose units are substituted with 2, 3 or 2,3-linked arabinose residues.
 Functions of Arabinoxylan

Arabinoxylans chiefly serve a structural role in the plant cells.

They are also the reservoirs of large amounts of ferulic acid and other
phenolic acids which are covalently linked to arabinoxylans. Phenolic
acids may also be involved in defense including protection against
fungal pathogens.

Arabinoxylans are one of the main components of soluble and insoluble

dietary fibers which are shown to exert various health benefits.

In addition, arabinoxylans, owing to their bound phenolic acids, are shown

to have antioxidant activity.

They are also linked to have various functions and health benefits.
 Xylan

Xylan is a generic term used to describe a wide variety of highly complex

polysaccharides that are found in plant cell walls and some algae.

Xylans are polysaccharides made from units of xylose (a pentose sugar).

Xylan is found in the cell walls of some green algae, especially macrophytic
siphonous genera, where it replaces cellulose. Similarly, it replaces the
inner fibrillar cell-wall layer of cellulose in some red algae.

Xylan is one of the foremost anti-nutritional factors in common use

feedstuff raw materials.
Structur of Xylan
 Amylum (Pati)

Starch or amylum is a carbohydrate consisting of a large number of

glucose units joined together by glycosidic bonds.

This polysaccharide is produced by all green plants as an energy store.

It is the most common carbohydrate in the human diet and is contained in

large amounts in such staple foods as potatoes, wheat, maize (corn),
rice, and cassava.

Pure starch is a white, tasteless and odorless powder that is insoluble in

cold water or alcohol.

The word "starch" is derived from Middle English sterchen, meaning to

stiffen. "amylum" is Latin for starch, from the Greek αμυλον, "amylon"
which means "not ground at a mill". The root amyl is used in
biochemistry for several compounds related to starch.
 Amylum (Pati)

It consists of two types of molecules: the linear and helical

amylose and the branched amylopectin.

Depending on the plant, starch generally contains 20 to 25%

amylose and 75 to 80% amylopectin.
 History
Starch grains from the rhizomes of Typha (cattails, bullrushes) as flour
have been identified from grinding stones in Europe dating back to
30,000 years ago.

Pure extracted wheat starch paste was used in Ancient Egypt possibly to
glue papyrus.

The extraction of starch is first described in the Natural History of

Pliny the Elder around AD 77-79.

Romans used it also in cosmetic creams, to powder the hair and to thicken
sauces. Persians and Indians used it to make dishes similar to
gothumai wheat halva. Rice starch as surface treatment of paper has
been used in paper production in China, from 700 AD onwards.

In addition to starchy plants consumed directly, 66 million tonnes of starch

were being produced per year world-wide by 2008. In the EU this was
around 8.5 million tonnes, with around 40% being used for industrial
applications and 60% for food uses, most of which as glucose syrups.
 Structure
Starch molecules arrange themselves in the plant in semi-crystalline
granules. Each plant species has a unique starch granular size:
rice starch is relatively small (about 2μm) while potato starches have
larger granules (up to 100μm). Although in absolute mass only about
one quarter of the starch granules in plants consist of amylose, there
are about 150 times more amylose molecules than amylopectin
molecules. Amylose is a much smaller molecule than amylopectin.

Some cultivated plant varieties have pure amylopectin starch without

amylose, known as waxy starches. The most used is waxy maize,
others are glutinous rice and waxy potato starch. Waxy starches have
less retrogradation, resulting in a more stable paste. High amylose
starch, amylomaize, is cultivated for the use of its gel strength.
Structure
 Biosynthesis
Plants produce starch by first converting glucose 1-phosphate to ADP-
glucose using the enzyme glucose-1-phosphate adenylyltransferase.
This step requires energy in the form of ATP.
The enzyme starch synthase then adds the ADP-glucose via a 1,4-alpha
glycosidic bond to a growing chain of glucose residues, liberating ADP
and creating amylose. Starch branching enzyme introduces 1,6-alpha
glycosidic bonds between these chains, creating the branched
amylopectin. The starch debranching enzyme isoamylase removes
some of these branches. Several isoforms of these enzymes exist,
leading to a highly complex synthesis process.
While amylose was traditionally thought to be completely unbranched, it is
now known that some of its molecules contain a few branch points.
Glycogen and amylopectin have the same structure, but the former has
about one branch point per ten 1,4-alpha bonds, compared to about
one branch point per thirty 1,4-alpha bonds in amylopectin. Another
difference is that glycogen is synthesised from UDP-glucose while
starch is synthesised from ADP-glucose.
 Hydrolysis
The enzymes that break down or hydrolyze starch into the constituent
sugars are known as amylases.

Alpha-amylases are found in plants and in animals. Human saliva is rich in

amylase, and the pancreas also secretes the enzyme. Individuals from
populations with a high-starch diet tend to have more amylase genes
than those with low-starch diets; chimpanzees have very few amylase
genes. It is possible that turning to a high-starch diet was a significant
event in human evolution.

Beta-amylase cuts starch into maltose units. This process is important in

the digestion of starch and is also used in brewing, where the amylase
from the skin of the seed grains is responsible for converting starch to
maltose (Malting, Mashing).
 Dextrinization
If starch is subjected to dry heat, it breaks down to form dextrins, also
called "pyrodextrins" in this context.

This break down process is known as dextrinization.

(Pyro)dextrins are mainly yellow to brown in color and dextrinization is

partially responsible for the browning of toasted bread.
 Chemical Tests
Iodine solution is used to test for starch; a dark blue color indicates the
presence of starch. The details of this reaction are not yet fully known,
but it is thought that the iodine (I 3− and I5− ions) fit inside the coils of
amylose, the charge transfers between the iodine and the starch, and
the energy level spacings in the resulting complex correspond to the
absorption spectrum in the visible light region. The strength of the
resulting blue color depends on the amount of amylose present. Waxy
starches with little or no amylose present will color red.

Starch indicator solution consisting of water, starch and iodine is often

used in redox titrations: in the presence of an oxidizing agent the
solution turns blue, in the presence of reducing agent the blue color
disappears because triiodide (I3−) ions break up into three iodide ions,
disassembling the starch-iodine complex. A 0.3% w/w solution is the
standard concentration for a starch indicator. It is made by adding
3 grams of soluble starch to 1 liter of heated water; the solution is
cooled before use (starch-iodine complex becomes unstable at
temperatures above 35 °C).
 Gelatinization
Starch becomes soluble in water when heated. The granules swell and burst, the
semi-crystalline structure is lost and the smaller amylose molecules start
leaching out of the granule, forming a network that holds water and
increasing the mixture's viscosity. This process is called starch gelatinization.

During cooking the starch becomes a paste and increases further in viscosity.
During cooling or prolonged storage of the paste, the semi-crystalline
structure partially recovers and the starch paste thickens, expelling water.
This is mainly caused by the retrogradation of the amylose. This process is
responsible for the hardening of bread or staling, and for the water layer on
top of a starch gel (syneresis).
 Starch Sugars
Starch can be hydrolyzed into simpler carbohydrates by acids, various enzymes,
or a combination of the two. The resulting fragments are known as dextrins.
These starch sugars are by far the most common starch based food
ingredient and are used as sweetener in many drinks and foods. They
include:
1. Maltodextrin, a lightly hydrolyzed (DE 10–20) starch product used as a bland-
tasting filler and thickener.
2. Various glucose syrups (DE 30–70), also called corn syrups in the US, viscous
solutions used as sweeteners and thickeners in many kinds of processed foods.
3. Dextrose (DE 100), commercial glucose, prepared by the complete hydrolysis of
starch.
4. High fructose syrup, made by treating dextrose solutions with the enzyme
glucose isomerase, until a substantial fraction of the glucose has been
converted to fructose.
5. Sugar alcohols, such as maltitol, erythritol, sorbitol, mannitol and
hydrogenated starch hydrolysate, are sweeteners made by reducing sugars.
 Functions of Amylum

Starch is processed to produce many of the sugars in processed foods.

Dissolving starch in warm water gives wheatpaste that can be used as a

thickening, stiffening or gluing agent.

The biggest industrial non-food use of starch is as adhesive in the

papermaking process.
 Use as Food additive

As an additive for food processing, food starches are typically used as

thickeners and stabilizers in foods such as puddings, custards, soups,
sauces, gravies, pie fillings, and salad dressings, and to make noodles
and pastas.

Gummed sweets such as jelly beans and wine gums are not manufactured
using a mold in the conventional sense. A tray is filled with native
starch and leveled. A positive mold is then pressed into the starch
leaving an impression of 1000 or so jelly beans. The jelly mix is then
poured into the impressions and put into a stove to set. This method
greatly reduces the number of molds that must be manufactured.

In the pharmaceutical industry, starch is also used as an excipient, as tablet

disintegrant or as binder.
 Papermaking
Papermaking is the largest non-food application for starches globally,
consuming millions of metric tons annually. In a typical sheet of copy
paper for instance, the starch content may be as high as 8%. Both
chemically modified and unmodified starches are used in papermaking.
In the wet part of the papermaking process, generally called the “wet-
end”, the starches used are cationic and have a positive charge bound
to the starch polymer. These starch derivatives associate with the
anionic or negatively charged paper fibers / cellulose and inorganic
fillers. Cationic starches together with other retention and internal
sizing agent help to give the necessary strength properties to the paper
web to be formed in the papermaking process (wet strength), and to
provide strength to the final paper sheet (dry strength).
In the dry end of the papermaking process, the paper web is rewetted with a
starch based solution. The process is called surface sizing. Starches
used have been chemically, or enzymatically depolymerized at the
paper mill or by the starch industry (oxidized starch).
Coated paper has improved smoothness, hardness, whiteness and gloss
and thus improves printing characteristics.
 Corrugated board adhesives
Corrugated board adhesives are the next largest application of non-food
starches globally.

Starch glues are mostly based on unmodified native starches, plus some
additive such as borax and caustic soda. Part of the starch is
gelatinized to carry the slurry of uncooked starches and prevent
sedimentation. This opaque glue is called a SteinHall adhesive. The
glue is applied on tips of the fluting. The fluted paper is pressed to
paper called liner. This is then dried under high heat, which causes the
rest of the uncooked starch in glue to swell/gelatinize. This gelatinizing
makes the glue a fast and strong adhesive for corrugated board
production.
 Clothing Starch

Clothing or laundry starch is a liquid that is prepared by mixing a vegetable

starch in water (earlier preparations also had to be boiled), and is used
in the laundering of clothes. Starch was widely used in Europe in the
16th and 17th centuries to stiffen the wide collars and ruffs of fine linen
which surrounded the necks of the well-to-do. During the 19th century
and early 20th century, it was stylish to stiffen the collars and sleeves
of men's shirts and the ruffles of girls' petticoats by applying starch to
them as the clean clothes were being ironed. Aside from the smooth,
crisp edges it gave to clothing, it served practical purposes as well. Dirt
and sweat from a person's neck and wrists would stick to the starch
rather than to the fibers of the clothing, and would easily wash away
along with the starch. After each laundering, the starch would be
reapplied. Today, the product is sold in aerosol cans for home use.
 Other Application
Starch is also used to make some packing peanuts, and some drop ceiling
tiles.
Textile chemicals from starch are used to reduce breaking of yarns during
weaving; the warp yarns are sized. Starch is mainly used to size cotton
based yarns. Modified starch is also used as textile printing thickener.
In the printing industry, food grade starch[18] is used in the manufacture of
anti-set-off spray powder used to separate printed sheets of paper to
avoid wet ink being set off.
Starch is used to produce various bioplastics, synthetic polymers that are
biodegradable. An example is polylactic acid.
For body powder, powdered corn starch is used as a substitute for talcum
powder, and similarly in other health and beauty products.
In oil exploration, starch is used to adjust the viscosity of drilling fluid, which
is used to lubricate the drill head and suspend the grinding residue in
petroleum extraction.
Glucose from starch can be further fermented to biofuel corn ethanol using
the so called wet milling process. Today most bioethanol production
plants use the dry milling process to ferment corn or other feedstock
directly to ethanol.
Hydrogen production can use starch as the raw material, using enzymes.
 Cellulose
Cellulose is an organic compound with the formula (C6H10O5)n, a polysaccharide
consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to over ten thousand
β(1→4) linked D-glucose units.
Cellulose is the structural component of the primary cell wall of green plants, many
forms of algae and the oomycetes. Some species of bacteria secrete it to form
biofilms. Cellulose is the most common organic compound on Earth. About
33% of all plant matter is cellulose (the cellulose content of cotton is 90% and
that of wood is 40–50%).
Cellulose was discovered in 1838 by the French chemist Anselme Payen, who
isolated it from plant matter and determined its chemical formula.
Cellulose was used to produce the first successful thermoplastic polymer, celluloid,
by Hyatt Manufacturing Company in 1870. Hermann Staudinger determined
the polymer structure of cellulose in 1920. The compound was first chemically
synthesized (without the use of any biologically derived enzymes) in 1992, by
Kobayashi and Shoda.
Cellulose has no taste, is odourless, is hydrophilic with the contact angle of 20–30,
is insoluble in water and most organic solvents, is chiral and is biodegradable.
It can be broken down chemically into its glucose units by treating it with
concentrated acids at high temperature.
 Cellulose
Cellulose is derived from D-glucose units, which condense through β(1→4)-
glycosidic bonds. This linkage motif contrasts with that for α(1→4)-glycosidic
bonds present in starch, glycogen, and other carbohydrates.
Cellulose is a straight chain polymer: unlike starch, no coiling or branching occurs,
and the molecule adopts an extended and rather stiff rod-like conformation,
aided by the equatorial conformation of the glucose residues.
The multiple hydroxyl groups on the glucose from one chain form hydrogen bonds
with oxygen atoms on the same or on a neighbor chain, holding the chains
firmly together side-by-side and forming microfibrils with high tensile strength.
This strength is important in cell walls, where the microfibrils are meshed into a
carbohydrate matrix, conferring rigidity to plant cells.
Compared to starch, cellulose is also much more crystalline. Whereas starch
undergoes a crystalline to amorphous transition when heated beyond 60-70 °C
in water (as in cooking), cellulose requires a temperature of 320 °C and
pressure of 25 MPa to become amorphous in water.
Molecules with very small chain length resulting from the breakdown of cellulose
are known as cellodextrins; in contrast to long-chain cellulose, cellodextrins are
typically soluble in water and organic solvents.
Cellulose is soluble in cupriethylenediamine (CED), cadmiumethylenediamine
(Cadoxen), N-methylmorpholine N-oxide and lithium chloride /
Cellulose
 Application of Cellulose
Cellulose is the major constituent of paper, paperboard, and card stock and of
textiles made from cotton, linen, and other plant fibers.

Cellulose can be converted into cellophane, a thin transparent film, and into rayon,
an important fiber that has been used for textiles since the beginning of the
20th century. Both cellophane and rayon are known as "regenerated cellulose
fibers"; they are identical to cellulose in chemical structure and are usually
made from dissolving pulp via viscose.

Converting cellulose from energy crops into biofuels such as cellulosic ethanol is
under investigation as an alternative fuel source.

Cellulose is the raw material in the manufacture of nitrocellulose (cellulose nitrate)

which is used in smokeless gunpowder and as the base material for celluloid
used for photographic and movie films until the mid 1930s.
 Application of Cellulose
Cellulose is used to make water-soluble adhesives and binders such as
methyl cellulose and carboxymethyl cellulose which are used in
wallpaper paste.

Microcrystalline cellulose (E460i) and powdered cellulose (E460ii) are used as

inactive fillers in tablets[11] and as thickeners and stabilizers in processed foods.
Cellulose powder is for example used in Kraft's Parmesan cheese to prevent caking
inside the tube.

Cellulose is used in the laboratory as the stationary phase for

thin layer chromatography.

Cellulose fibers are also used in liquid filtration, sometimes in combination with
diatomaceous earth or other filtration media, to create a filter bed of inert
material.

Cellulose is further used to make hydrophilic and highly absorbent sponges.

Cellulose insulation made from recycled paper is becoming popular as an

environmentally preferable material for building insulation. It can be treated
 Glycogen
Glycogen is a molecule that serves as the secondary long-term energy storage
in animal and fungal cells, with the primary energy stores being held in
adipose tissue.

Glycogen is made primarily by the liver and the muscles, but can also be made by
glycogenesis within the brain and stomach.

Glycogen is the analogue of starch, a glucose polymer in plants, and is

sometimes referred to as animal starch, having a similar structure to
amylopectin but more extensively branched and compact than starch.

Glycogen is a polymer of α(1→4) glycosidic bonds linked, with α(1→6)-linked

braches.

Glycogen is found in the form of granules in the cytosol/cytoplasm in many cell

types, and plays an important role in the glucose cycle.
 Synthesis
Glycogen synthesis is, unlike its breakdown, endergonic. This means that
glycogen synthesis requires the input of energy. Energy for glycogen
synthesis comes from UTP, which reacts with glucose-1-phosphate, forming
UDP-glucose, in reaction catalysed by UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase.
Glycogen is synthesized from monomers of UDP-glucose by the enzyme
glycogen synthase, which progressively lengthens the glycogen chain with
(α1→4) bonded glucose.
As glycogen synthase can lengthen only an existing chain, the protein glycogenin
is needed to initiate the synthesis of glycogen. The glycogen-branching
enzyme, amylo (α1→4) to (α1→6) transglycosylase, catalyzes the transfer
of a terminal fragment of 6-7 glucose residues from a nonreducing end to the
C-6 hydroxyl group of a glucose residue deeper into the interior of the
glycogen molecule. The branching enzyme can act upon only a branch
having at least 11 residues, and the enzyme may transfer to the same
glucose chain or adjacent glucose chains.
Structure
 Functions
Glucose derived from liver glycogen will be the primary source of blood glucose to
be used by the rest of the body for fuel.

Glucagon causes the liver to convert stored glycogen into glucose, which is
released into the bloodstream. Glucagon is another hormone produced by
the pancreas, which in many respects serves as a counter-signal to insulin.
In response to insulin level below normal (when blood levels of glucose begin
to fall below the normal range), glucagon is secreted in increasing amounts
to stimulate glycogenolysis and gluconeogenesis pathways.

Muscle cell glycogen appears to function as an immediate reserve source of

available glucose for muscle cells.

Glycogen is also a suitable storage substance due to its insolubility in water,

which means it does not affect the osmotistic levels and pressure of a cell.
 Dextran
Dextran is a complex, branched glucan (polysaccharide made of many glucose
molecules) composed of chains of varying lengths (from 3 to 2000 kilodaltons
). It is used medicinally as an antithrombotic (anti-platelet), to reduce blood
viscosity, and as a volume expander in anemia.

The straight chain consists of α-1,6 glycosidic linkages between glucose

molecules, while branches begin from α-1,3 linkages.

Dextran is synthesized from sucrose by certain lactic-acid bacteria, the best-

known being Leuconostoc mesenteroides and Streptococcus mutans.
Dental plaque is rich in dextrans. Dextran is also formed by the
lactic acid bacterium Lactobacillus brevis to create the crystals of tibicos, or
water kefir fermented beverage which supposedly has some health benefits.

Dextran was first discovered by Louis Pasteur as a microbial product in wine

Structure
 Uses
These agents are used commonly by microsurgeons to decrease vascular
thrombosis. The antithrombotic effect of dextran is mediated through its
binding of erythrocytes, platelets, and vascular endothelium, increasing their
electronegativity and thus reducing erythrocyte aggregation and platelet
adhesiveness. Dextrans also reduce factor VIII-Ag Von Willebrand factor,
thereby decreasing platelet function. Clots formed after administration of
dextrans are more easily lysed due to an altered thrombus structure (more
evenly distributed platelets with coarser fibrin). By inhibiting α-2 antiplasmin,
dextran serves as a plasminogen activator and therefore possesses
thrombolytic features.
dextran-40 (MW: 40,000 Da), has been the most popular member for
anticoagulation therapy. Close to 70% of dextran-40 is excreted in urine
within the first 24 hours after intravenous infusion while the remaining 30%
will be retained for several more days.
 Other Medical Uses
It is used in some eye drops as a lubricant, and in certain intravenous fluids to
solubilise other factors, e.g. iron (=iron dextran).

Intravenous solutions with dextran function both as volume expanders and means
of parenteral nutrition. Such a solution provides an osmotically neutral fluid
that once in the body is digested by cells into glucose and free water. It is
occasionally used to replace lost blood in emergency situations, when
replacement blood is not available, but must be used with caution as it does
not provide necessary electrolytes and can cause hyponatremia or other
electrolyte disturbances.

It also increases blood sugar levels.

 Laboratory Uses
Dextran is used in the osmotic stress technique for applying osmotic pressure to
biological molecules.
It is also used in some size-exclusion chromatography matrices; an example is
Sephadex.
Dextran has also been used in bead form to aid in bioreactor applications.
Dextran has been used in immobilization in biosensors.
Dextran preferentially binds to early endosomes; fluorescently-labelled dextran
can be used to visualize these endosomes under a fluorescent microscope.
Dextran can be used as a stabilising coating to protect metal nanoparticles from
oxidation and improve biocompatibility.
Dextran coupled with a fluorescent molecule(such as FITC) can be used to create
concentration gradients of diffusible molecules for imaging and allow
subsequent characterization of gradient slope.
Dextran is used to make microcarriers for industrial cell culture
 Inulin (Fructan)
Some plants store carbohydrates in the form of inulin as an alternative, or in
addition, to starch. Inulins are present in many vegetables and fruits,
including onions, leeks, garlic, bananas, asparagus, chicory, and Jerusalem
artichokes. Inulins, also called fructans, are polymers consisting of fructose
units that typically have a terminal glucose.Oligofructose has the same
structure as inulin, but the chains consist of 10 or fewer fructose units.
Oligofructose has approximately 30 to 50 percent of the sweetness of table
sugar. Inulin is less soluble than oligofructose and has a smooth creamy
texture that provides a fat-like mouthfeel. Inulin and oligofructose are
nondigestible by human intestinal enzymes, but they are totally fermented by
colonic microflora. The short-chain fatty acids and lactate produced by
fermentation contribute 1.5 kcal per gram of inulin or oligofructose. Inulin and
oligofructose are used to replace fat or sugar and reduce the calories of
foods like ice cream, dairy products, confections and baked goods.
Plants storing their food as fructans are able to thrive at low temperatures since
fructans confer tolerance to freezing. They bind to membranes, thereby
helping to keep cells intact.
Structure

Inulin     n = approx. 35

 Mannan
Mannan is a plant polysaccharide that is a polymer of the sugar mannose.
Detection of mannan leads to lysis in the mannan-binding lectin pathway.It is
generally found in yeast, bacteria and plants. It shows α(1-4) linkage. It is a
form of storage polysaccharide.
The potential of mannan synthesis as an antifungal target has received less
attention. Mannan consists of a large number of various hyper-mannosylated
proteins that are deposited mainly at the outside of the cell wall thereby
covering the surface with a layer, protecting internal regions of the cell wall
from large molecules like proteases. Many critical aspects of the interaction
between the fungus and the host, such as adhesion, immuno-surveillance,
and immuno-modulation, are mediated by host recognition and interaction
with this mannan-rich surface of the cell wall. Therefore, disturbance of the
mannosylation process is likely to have a broad range of damaging effects on
the fungus and its interaction with the host, as many mannoproteins involved
in pathogenesis, including excreted virulence determinants, are likely to be
affected.
Structure

A typical molecular structure of a ß(1,4)-mannan

 Galactan (Gum Arabic)
Galactan is a polymer of the sugar galactose found in hemicellulose. Galactan
can be converted to galactose by hydrolysis.
Galactan also known as Gum Arabic, acacia gum, chaar gund, char goond,
or meska, is a natural gum made of hardened sap taken from two species of
the acacia tree; Acacia senegal and Acacia seyal.
Gum arabic is a complex mixture of polysaccharides and glycoproteins that is
used primarily in the food industry as a stabilizer. It is edible and has
E number E414. Gum arabic is a key ingredient in traditional lithography and
is used in printing, paint production, glue, cosmetics and various industrial
applications, including viscosity control in inks and in textile industries,
although less expensive materials compete with it for many of these roles.
While acacia gum is now produced throughout the African Sahel, it is also still
harvested and used in the Middle East. For example, Arab populations use
the natural gum to make a chilled, sweetened, and flavored gelato-like
dessert.
Structure
 Pektin
Pektin secara umum terdapat dalam dinding sel primer tanaman,
khususnya di sela-sela antara selulosa dan hemiselulosa. Senyawa
pektin berfungsi sebagai perekat antara dinding sel satu dengan yang
lain.

Pada umumnya senyawa pektin dapat diklasifikasi menjadi tiga kelompok

senyawa yaitu asam pektat, asam pektinat (pektin), dan protopektin.

Kandungan pektin dalam tanaman sangat bervariasi baik berdasarkan jenis

tanamannya maupun bagian-bagian jaringannya.

Komposisi kandungan protopektin, pektin, dan asam pektat di dalam buah

sangat bervariasi tergantung pada derajat pematangan buah.
 Pektin
Pada umumnya protopektin yang tidak dapat larut itu terdapat dalam
jaringan tanaman yang belum matang.

Potensi pembentukan jeli dari pektin menjadi berkurang dalam buah yang
terlalu matang.

Buah-buahan yang dapat digunakan untuk membuat jeli adalah jambu biji,
apel, lemon, plum, jeruk, serta anggur.
 To be Continued…

Thanks A Lot…