Carbohydrates

A major part of the carbon cycle occurs as carbon dioxide is converted to carbohydrates through photosynthesis. Carbohydrates are utilized by animals and humans in metabolism to produce energy and other compounds. Carbohydrates serve as the main energy source for the human body. Chemically, carbohydrates are organic molecules in which carbon, hydrogen and oxygen bond together. Animals break down carbohydrates during metabolism to release energy. This reaction is shown below for the carbohydrate glucose: C6H12O6 + 6 O2 6 CO2 + 6 H2O + energy

Animals obtain carbohydrates by eating food that contains them, such as plant material. Plants manufacture carbohydrates by harvesting energy from sunlight to run the above reaction in reverse, as shown below: 6 CO2 + 6 H2O + energy (from sunlight) C6H12O6 + 6 O2

Carbohydrates come in 2 types: the simple sugars and the complex carbohydrates.

Simple Sugars: Simple sugars are sweet in taste and are broken down quickly in the body to release energy (as shown in the reaction at top). The basic unit in a carbohydrate is the sugar or saccharide unit. The simplest sugars are the monosaccharides; these are sugars that are composed of a single saccharide molecule. Three of the most common monosaccharides are glucose, fructose and galactose. Fructose is the main sugar found in many fruits. The structure of these monosaccharides are shown below:

glucose

fructose

galactose

As you can see, all three monosaccharides are similar, differing in structure only in the position of the =O group or in the orientation of an -OH group. These structural differences are an important feature of the monosaccarides.

In water the monosaccharides shown above actually link to themselves to form a ring structure. Disaccharides are also simple sugars that taste sweet and are easily broken down to release energy in the body. Disaccharides are formed when 2 monosaccharides molecules bond together. A water molecule is eliminated when this reaction takes place. Two of the most common disaccharides are sucrose, commonly known as table sugar and lactose (milk sugar). Sucrose is a disaccharide consisting of 1 glucose molecule linked to one fructose molecule. Lactose consists of a glucose molecule bonded to a galactose molecule.

Complex Carbohydrates: The complex carbohydrates are polymers of simple sugars. A polymer (simply translated as 'many parts') is a molecule that consists of repeating units of a smaller molecule. For example, a chain can be thought of as a polymer of the links in the chain. The complex carbohydrates are molecules in which many mono-, or di-, saccharides bond together in a chain. The three most common complex carbohydrates are: starch, glycogen and cellulose: o Starch is a straight chain polymer of glucose. Plants manufacture starch by bonding many glucose molecules end-to-end as a means of storing energy for future use. Animals can digest starch easily by breaking it down into glucose and using the sugar as an energy source. Some common sources of starch are potatoes, bread (made from grains), beans, corn, etc.

Glycogen is also a polymer of glucose. But rather than a straight chain of glucose units, glycogen is a more highly branched chain of glucose molecules. Glycogen is the main energy reserve in animals. When excess glucose is eaten by an animal, this glucose is bonded together to form glycogen molecules which the animal stores in the liver and muscle tissue as an "instant" source of energy.

Cellulose is yet a third polymer of the monosaccharide glucose. Cellulose differs from starch and glycogen because the glucose-toglucose bonds in cellulose are different and are much more difficult to break apart. Most animals (with the exception of cows and some other creatures) cannot digest cellulose. Since plants do not have bones to provide support for the plant, cellulose is used as a structural molecule to support leaves and other plant parts. Despite the fact that it cannot be used as an energy source in most animals, cellulose in the diet is often referred to as dietary fibre. Fibre helps exercise the digestive track and keep it clean and healthy.

Carbohydrate Functions:
Carbohydrates are initially synthesized in plants from a complex series of reactions involving photosynthesis. -Store energy in the form of starch (photosynthesis in plants) or glycogen (in animals and humans). -Provide energy through metabolism pathways and cycles. -Supply carbon for synthesis of other compounds. -Form structural components in cells and tissues.

Carbohydrate metabolism
In farm animals dietary carbohydrates provide well over one-half of the energy needs for maintenance, growth and production. Glucose is a primary energy source for certain animal tissues and a precursor for lactose synthesis in the mammary gland. Consequently, understanding carbohydrate digestion and absorption, dietary glucose availability and the involvement of gluconeogenesis in the regulation of glucose homeostasis is essential for the manipulation of the production and quality of agricultural foods.

Carbohydrate Digestion Forages

On high-forage diets ruminants often ruminate or regurgitate ingested forage. This allows them to chew their cud to reduce particle size and improve digestibility. As ruminants are transitioned to higher concentrate (grain-based) diets, they ruminate less. Once inside the reticulorumen, forage is exposed to a unique population of microbes that begin to ferment and digest the plant cell wall components and break these components down into carbohydrates and sugars. Rumen microbes use carbohydrates along with ammonia and amino acids to grow. The microbes ferment sugars to produce VFAs (acetate, propionate, butyrate), methane, hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide. The VFAs are then absorbed across the rumen wall, where they go to the liver.

Once at the liver, the VFAs are converted to glucose via gluconeogenesis. Because plant cell walls are slow to digest, this acid production is very slow. Coupled with routine rumination (chewing and rechewing of the cud) that increases salivary flow, this makes for a rather stable pH environment (around 6.0).

High-Concentrate Feedstuffs (Grains)

When ruminants are fed high-grain or concentrate rations, the digestion process is similar to forage digestion, with a few exceptions. Typically, on a high-grain diet, there is less chewing and ruminating, which leads to less salivary production and buffering agents being produced. Additionally most grains have a high concentration of readily digestible carbohydrates, unlike the more structural carbohydrates found in plant cell walls. This readily digestible carbohydrate is rapidly digested, resulting in an increase in VFA production. The relative concentrations of the VFAs are also changed, with propionate being produced in the greatest quantity, followed by acetate and butyrate. Less methane and heat are produced as well. The increase in VFA production leads to a more acidic environment (pH 5.5). It also causes a shift in the microbial population by decreasing the forage using microbial population and potentially leading to a decrease in digestibility of forages. Lactic acid is a by-product of starch fermentation. Lactic acid production coupled with the increased VFA production, can overwhelm the ruminants ability to buffer and absorb these acids and lead to metabolic acidosis. The acidic environment leads to tissue damage within the rumen and can lead to ulcerations of the rumen wall. Take care to provide adequate forage and avoid situations that might lead to acidosis when feeding ruminants high-concentrate diets.

Carbohydrate digestion and rumen fermentation.

The major sources of carbohydrates in pig diets are feeds rich in starch whereas in ruminants fibrous feeds containing cellulose and hemicellulose and grains rich in starch are the primary carbohydrate sources. In swine, most dietary carbohydrates (e.g., starch) are hydrolyzed to monosaccharides in the small intestine, whereas ruminants have most of their dietary carbohydrates (e.g., starch and cellulose) fermented in the rumen by micro organisms and only 5 to 20% of consumed dietary carbohydrates are digested in the small intestine.

The pathways used in carbohydrate metabolism are shown in the following diagram.