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Lacto-N-tetraose
Lacto-''N''-tetraose is a complex sugar found in human milk. It is one of the few characterized human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) and is enzymatically synthesized from the substrate lactose. It is biologically relevant in the early development of the infant gut flora. Structure Lacto-''N''-tetraose is a tetrasaccharide composed of four monosaccharide units in the order galactose, ''N''-acetylglucosamine, another galactose, and glucose, joined by "1-3 β-linkages" in a linear chain. It has the chemical formula C26H45NO21, shared with its related human milk oligosaccharide isomer lacto-''N''-neotetraose. The molecule consisting of the first two monosaccharide units is called lacto-''N''-biose (presumably because it is a biose containing a nitrogen atom and involved in milk). and when this is attached to a lactose molecule the tetrasaccharide is called lacto-''N''-tetraose. It is a reducing sugar with a free anomeric center at the terminal glucose molecule indicating an e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Human Milk Oligosaccharide
Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), also known as human milk glycans, are short polymers of simple sugars that can be found in high concentrations in human breast milk. Human milk oligosaccharides promote the development of the immune system, can reduce the pathogen infections and improve brain development and cognition. The HMO profile of human breast milk shapes the gut microbiota of the infant by selectively stimulating bifidobacteria and other bacteria. Occurrence Milk oligosaccharides seem to be more abundant in humans than in other animals and to be more complex and varied. Oligosaccharides in primate milk are generally more complex and diverse than in non-primates. Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) form the third most abundant solid component ( dissolved or emulsified or suspended in water) of human milk, after lactose and fat. HMOs are present in a concentration of 11.3 – 17.7 g/L (1.5 oz/gal – 2.36 oz/gal) in human milk, depending on lactation stages. Approxima ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oligosaccharide
An oligosaccharide (/ˌɑlɪgoʊˈsækəˌɹaɪd/; from the Greek ὀλίγος ''olígos'', "a few", and σάκχαρ ''sácchar'', "sugar") is a saccharide polymer containing a small number (typically two to ten) of monosaccharides (simple sugars). Oligosaccharides can have many functions including cell recognition and cell adhesion. They are normally present as glycans: oligosaccharide chains are linked to lipids or to compatible amino acid side chains in proteins, by ''N''- or ''O''-glycosidic bonds. ''N''-Linked oligosaccharides are always pentasaccharides attached to asparagine via a beta linkage to the amine nitrogen of the side chain.. Alternately, ''O''-linked oligosaccharides are generally attached to threonine or serine on the alcohol group of the side chain. Not all natural oligosaccharides occur as components of glycoproteins or glycolipids. Some, such as the raffinose series, occur as storage or transport carbohydrates in plants. Others, such as maltodextr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isomer
In chemistry, isomers are molecules or polyatomic ions with identical molecular formulae – that is, same number of atoms of each element – but distinct arrangements of atoms in space. Isomerism is existence or possibility of isomers. Isomers do not necessarily share similar chemical or physical properties. Two main forms of isomerism are structural or constitutional isomerism, in which ''bonds'' between the atoms differ; and stereoisomerism or spatial isomerism, in which the bonds are the same but the ''relative positions'' of the atoms differ. Isomeric relationships form a hierarchy. Two chemicals might be the same constitutional isomer, but upon deeper analysis be stereoisomers of each other. Two molecules that are the same stereoisomer as each other might be in different conformational forms or be different isotopologues. The depth of analysis depends on the field of study or the chemical and physical properties of interest. The English word "isomer" () is a back ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sucrose
Sucrose, a disaccharide, is a sugar composed of glucose and fructose subunits. It is produced naturally in plants and is the main constituent of white sugar. It has the molecular formula . For human consumption, sucrose is extracted and refined from either sugarcane or sugar beet. Sugar mills – typically located in tropical regions near where sugarcane is grown – crush the cane and produce raw sugar which is shipped to other factories for refining into pure sucrose. Sugar beet factories are located in temperate climates where the beet is grown, and process the beets directly into refined sugar. The sugar-refining process involves washing the raw sugar crystals before dissolving them into a sugar syrup which is filtered and then passed over carbon to remove any residual colour. The sugar syrup is then concentrated by boiling under a vacuum and crystallized as the final purification process to produce crystals of pure sucrose that are clear, odorless, and sweet. Su ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plant
Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclude the fungi and some algae, as well as the prokaryotes (the archaea and bacteria). By one definition, plants form the clade Viridiplantae (Latin name for "green plants") which is sister of the Glaucophyta, and consists of the green algae and Embryophyta (land plants). The latter includes the flowering plants, conifers and other gymnosperms, ferns and their allies, hornworts, liverworts, and mosses. Most plants are multicellular organisms. Green plants obtain most of their energy from sunlight via photosynthesis by primary chloroplasts that are derived from endosymbiosis with cyanobacteria. Their chloroplasts contain chlorophylls a and b, which gives them their green color. Some plants are parasitic or mycotrophic an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Raffinose
Raffinose is a trisaccharide composed of galactose, glucose, and fructose. It can be found in beans, cabbage, brussels sprouts, broccoli, asparagus, other vegetables, and whole grains. Raffinose can be hydrolyzed to D-galactose and sucrose by the enzyme α-galactosidase (α-GAL), an enzyme which in the lumen of the human digestive tract is only produced by bacteria in the large intestine. α-GAL also hydrolyzes other α-galactosides such as stachyose, verbascose, and galactinol, if present. The enzyme does not cleave β-linked galactose, as in lactose. Chemical properties The raffinose family of oligosaccharides (RFOs) are alpha-galactosyl derivatives of sucrose, and the most common are the trisaccharide raffinose, the tetrasaccharide stachyose, and the pentasaccharide verbascose. RFOs are almost ubiquitous in the plant kingdom, being found in a large variety of seeds from many different families, and they rank second only to sucrose in abundance as soluble carboh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Characterization (materials Science)
Characterization, when used in materials science, refers to the broad and general process by which a material's structure and properties are probed and measured. It is a fundamental process in the field of materials science, without which no scientific understanding of engineering materials could be ascertained. The scope of the term often differs; some definitions limit the term's use to techniques which study the microscopic structure and properties of materials, while others use the term to refer to any materials analysis process including macroscopic techniques such as mechanical testing, thermal analysis and density calculation. The scale of the structures observed in materials characterization ranges from angstroms, such as in the imaging of individual atoms and chemical bonds, up to centimeters, such as in the imaging of coarse grain structures in metals. While many characterization techniques have been practiced for centuries, such as basic optical microscopy, new techniqu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Disaccharide
A disaccharide (also called a double sugar or ''biose'') is the sugar formed when two monosaccharides are joined by glycosidic linkage. Like monosaccharides, disaccharides are simple sugars soluble in water. Three common examples are sucrose, lactose, and maltose. Disaccharides are one of the four chemical groupings of carbohydrates (monosaccharides, disaccharides, oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides). The most common types of disaccharides—sucrose, lactose, and maltose—have 12 carbon atoms, with the general formula C12H22O11. The differences in these disaccharides are due to atomic arrangements within the molecule. The joining of monosaccharides into a double sugar happens by a condensation reaction, which involves the elimination of a water molecule from the functional groups only. Breaking apart a double sugar into its two monosaccharides is accomplished by hydrolysis with the help of a type of enzyme called a disaccharidase. As building the larger sugar ejects a wat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oligosaccharide Nomenclature
Oligosaccharides and polysaccharides are an important class of polymeric carbohydrates found in virtually all living entities. Their structural features make their nomenclature challenging and their roles in living systems make their nomenclature important. Oligosaccharides Oligosaccharides are carbohydrates that are composed of several monosaccharide residues joined through glycosidic linkage, which can be hydrolyzed by enzymes or acid to give the constituent monosaccharide units. While a strict definition of an oligosaccharide is not established, it is generally agreed that a carbohydrate consisting of two to ten monosaccharide residues with a defined structure is an oligosaccharide.J. H. Pazur, The Carbohydrates: Chemistry and Biochemistry, 2nd Edition, Academic Press, New York, 1970. Some oligosaccharides, for example maltose, sucrose, and lactose, were trivially named before their chemical constitution was determined, and these names are still used today. Image:Maltose ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Benedict's Reagent
Benedict's reagent (often called Benedict's qualitative solution or Benedict's solution) is a chemical reagent and complex mixture of sodium carbonate, sodium citrate, and copper(II) sulfate pentahydrate. It is often used in place of Fehling's solution to detect the presence of reducing sugars. The presence of other reducing substances also gives a positive result.Collins Edexcel International GCSEBiology, Student Book () p.42-43 Such tests that use this reagent are called the Benedict's tests. A positive test with Benedict's reagent is shown by a color change from clear blue to brick-red with a precipitate. Generally, Benedict's test detects the presence of aldehydes, alpha-hydroxy-ketones, and hemiacetals, including those that occur in certain ketoses. Thus, although the ketose fructose is not strictly a reducing sugar, it is an alpha-hydroxy-ketone and gives a positive test because the base in the reagent converts it into the aldoses glucose and mannose. Oxidation of the re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anomer
In carbohydrate chemistry, a pair of anomers () is a pair of near-identical stereoisomers that differ at only the anomeric carbon, the carbon that bears the aldehyde or ketone functional group in the sugar's open-chain form. However, in order for anomers to exist, the sugar must be in its cyclic form, since in open-chain form, the anomeric carbon is planar and thus achiral. More formally stated, then, an anomer is an epimer at the hemiacetal/hemiketal carbon in a cyclic saccharide. Anomerization is the process of conversion of one anomer to the other. As is typical for stereoisomeric compounds, different anomers have different physical properties, melting points and specific rotations. Nomenclature Two anomers are designated alpha (α) or beta (β), according to the configurational relationship between the ''anomeric centre'' and the ''anomeric reference atom'', hence they are relative stereodescriptors. The anomeric centre in hemiacetals is the anomeric carbon C-1; in he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Equilibrium Chemistry
Equilibrium chemistry is concerned with systems in chemical equilibrium. The unifying principle is that the free energy of a system at equilibrium is the minimum possible, so that the slope of the free energy with respect to the reaction coordinate is zero. This principle, applied to mixtures at equilibrium provides a definition of an equilibrium constant. Applications include acid–base, host–guest, metal–complex, solubility, partition, chromatography and redox equilibria. Thermodynamic equilibrium A chemical system is said to be in equilibrium when the quantities of the chemical entities involved do not and ''cannot'' change in time without the application of an external influence. In this sense a system in chemical equilibrium is in a stable state. The system at chemical equilibrium will be at a constant temperature, pressure or volume and a composition. It will be insulated from exchange of heat with the surroundings, that is, it is a closed system. A change of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
