Importance of Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates, being widely distributed throughout the plant and animal kingdoms, act mainly in two broad capacities: as energy sources and as structural polymers. Their concrete roles include: (1) carbohydrate is stored in the animal body as glycogen and in the plant body as starch, providing a ready energy reserve; (2) cellulose, the primary structural component of the plant cell wall, is harvested to make paper, furniture (wood) and cloth (cotton); (3) the simple sugar glucose serves as an instant, readily metabolised source of energy for cells; (4) ribose sugars are one of the three components of every nucleotide, making carbohydrates a structural part of the nucleic acids covered later in this unit (§14.5); and (5) modified carbohydrates such …