Chemical and Functional Properties of Food Saccharides

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CONTENTS
© 2004 by CRC Press LLC
Saccharides and
Polysaccharides:
An Introduction
Piotr Tomasik
1.1 Occurrence and Significance
1.2 Carbohydrates as a Class of Compounds
1.3 Further Remarks on the Structure
1.4 Food Carbohydrates
References
1.1 OCCURRENCE AND SIGNIFICANCE
Carbohydrates, one of the most common groups of natural products, are construction
materials for plant (cellulose, hemicelluloses, pectins) and animal tissues.
They are the sources of energy and storage material in flora (starch, inulin) and
fauna (glycogen).
Several specific carbohydrates are utilized in nature, for instance, as watermaintaining
hydrocolloids, sex attractants (pheromones), and others formed by photosynthesis
and associated processes. Some of them are subsequently utilized by
plants, which transform them into other products; for instance, some plants may turn
D-galactose into ascorbic acid, or some carbohydrates reside in plants as final
products of photosynthesis and metabolism. Several of them are interesting for their
pharmacological properties.
The list of known natural carbohydrates is continuously growing, owing to new
discoveries in animal and, particularly, plant material. Recently, two novel polysaccharides
have been isolated from deep-sea hydrothermal microorganisms. 1,2 Their
unique thickening and gelling properties make them suitable for future commercialization.
The number of synthetic and semisynthetic carbohydrates is also growing. Several
interesting features of the biological activity and functional properties of natural
carbohydrates are the driving force for designing products of novel structure with
improved properties. For example, syntheses of carbohydrate derivatives with heparin-like
properties are being continuously developed. There are also a number of