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Functions
Carbohydrates have a number of important functions.
| Primary among those is that they serve as energy sources
for both plants and animals. Many carbohydrates serve as structural material.
People aren't the only living things that use wood for building. The plants use cellulose
also for building, and some insects make their skeletons out of carbohydrates and some
carbohydrates are used for structural purposes in animals as well.
Carbohydrates serve as raw materials for the synthesis of other
organic compounds. Starting with simple sugars, a plant can generate all of the organic
compounds it needs, such things as amino acids, vitamins, and so forth. |
| Functions |
Energy source
Structural material
Starting point for other organic compounds |
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Now that you have some idea of what carbohydrates are all about, we'll take a closer
look at their role in the energy cycle, what their structure
is like, and also how they can react to be converted into other organic compounds.
These topics are considered in the other sections of this lesson.
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E-mail instructor:
Sue Eggling
Clackamas Community College
©2001, 2003 Clackamas Community College, Hal Bender
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