Biological Molecules
1
Water
• Almost 80% of our bodies are made of water.
Importance of water:
❖ Cytoplasm in the cells made of substances dissolved in
water and tissue fluid between the cells contain water.
❖ Water is needed as a medium for metabolic reactions in the
cell.
❖ Water is needed as reactant for hydrolysis and
photosynthesis.
❖ Water is the main component of blood plasma.
❖ Water is secreted in form of sweat which is necessary for
cooling down body in hot days.
❖ Water is the environment for aquatic organisms.
❖ Water is an important solvent :
✓ Dissolve oxygen for respiration of aquatic organisms.
✓ Excretory products cannot be excreted except dissolved in
water.
✓ Allow absorbing of digested food, dissolved in water.
✓ Allow plant to absorb mineral ions from soil dissolved in
water.
✓ Water is needed to dissolve enzymes and nutrients for
digestion.
24
2
Carbohydrates
❖ Have 3 types of atoms C, H , O , in ratio 2:1 between Hydrogen and
Oxygen.
Types of
Carbohydrates
Monosaccharide Disaccharide Polysaccharide
Ex: Glucose
Ex: Maltose
Fructose Ex: Starch
Lactose
Galactose Glycogen
Sucrose
Cellulose
Monosaccharide
Molecular formula:
Structural formula of glucose:
25
→ Are the building units of carbohydrates.
Source: Fruits, honey, jam.
→ They are all reducing sugars.
→ Physical properties.
• Sweet taste.
• Soluble in water.
• Crystal or powder solid form.
Disaccharide
o Each molecule is made of 2 molecules of monosaccharide.
Condensation
▪ Glucose + Glucose Maltose + H2O
Hydrolysis
Condensation
▪ Glucose + Galactose Lactose + H2O
Hydrolysis
Condensation
▪ Glucose + Fructose Sucrose + H2O
Hydrolysis
o Molecular formula: C12H22O11
o Source:
> Lactose is milk sugar.
> Sucrose, its source is sugar cane and translocate in
phloem.
> Maltose is produced from hydrolysis of starch
(malt-sugar).
26
o All disaccharides are reducing except sucrose.
~ Sucrose is the only non reducing sugar.
o Physical properties.
• Sweet taste.
• Soluble in water.
• Crystal or powder solid form.
Polysaccharide
Large molecule made of joining of large number of monosaccharides by
condensation reactions.
Polysacchari
des
Starch Glycogen Cellulose
1. Cell wall of plant cell.
1.Energy storage 2. It has structural
Energy storage function
molecule inside plant cell.
molecules in
2.made of glucose 3. .made of glucose
cytoplasm of
molecules linked together molecules linked
animal cell (liver
. together .
& muscle cells)
3. it has spiral shape 4. it has straight chain
shape
27
o Physical properties for storage:
~ Insoluble in water, so not affecting water potential of cells.
~ Large molecules cannot diffuse out of cells.
~ Less reactive.
o Physical properties:
• No sweet taste.
• Insoluble in water.
• Non-reducing powder or fibrous form.
28
3
Lipids
❖ It contains 3 types of atoms, C, H, O.
❖ Monomers are three fatty acids and one glycerol molecule.
(Triglycerides) :
3 Fatty Acids
Triglyceride
❖ Lipids in solid form is called fats.
❖ Lipids in liquid form is called oil.
❖ There are 2 types of fatty acids.
Saturated Unsaturated
→ They have only → They have single bonds
single bonds. and one or more double
→ Solid at room bonds.
temperature. → Liquid at room
→ Animal fats, like temperature.
butter. → Vegetable oil or fish oil.
29
Importance of lipids
1 Energy rich storage molecule, as
1 gram lipid releases 3 g KJ.
1 gram carbohydrate releases 17KJ.
✓ Because lipids contain large number of C-H bonds then
carbohydrates, so release more energy than carbohydrates.
2 Act as insulator, reducing heat loss (adipose tissue under skin) thick layer in
animal (called blubber)
3 Protecting and supporting internal organs.
4 Part of cell membrane.
5 Breaking down of large amount of lipids produce metabolic water for
desert animals.
6 Steroid hormones (sex hormones).
7 Buoyancy The fat stored also provides buoyancy, helping large, heavy
mammals to float in the water.
❖ Sources of fats:
> Animal source: Meat, milk, cheese, butter and eggs.
> Plant source: Palm oil, maize and cotton seeds oil.
30
4
Protein
It contains C, H, O, N and sometimes S.
The monomers are amino acids.
There are 20 different types of amino acids.
8 are essential, should be taken in food.
12 are non-essential can be synthesized from other amino acids.
Each protein is made of amino acids joined together by condensation
reactions in specific order, if the order of amino acids changed, the whole
protein will be changed.
Types of protein:
> Some are soluble like haemoglobin and enzymes.
> Some are insoluble in water as keratin hair and nails.
Importance of protein
1 Formation of new cells for growth ,tissue repair and formation of
cell membrane .
2 Formation of antibodies to kill pathogen.
3 Formation of enzymes.
4 Formation of haemoglobin in blood cells for transporting oxygen.
5 Formation of keratin for hair and finger nail
6 Formation of hormones like insulin and glucagon.
7 Source of energy only during starvation.
31
Source of protein:
► Meat, milk, fish, egg, cheese high biological values as it contains
all essential and non- essential amino acids.
► Beans, peas, lentils low biological value protein as it doesn’t
contain essential amino acids.
Food test
Test for Chemical reagent Colour change
Glucose Benedicts Blue green ,yellow, orange,red.
Starch Iodine solution Yellow blue black
Protein biuret Blue purple
Lipid Ethanol and water Colourless white, milky emulsion
32
DNA
≈ It stands for Deoxy ribonucleic acids.
≈ It is the genetic material that we inherit
from our parents.
≈ It makes up genes and chromosomes.
≈ Structure:
⸗ Made up of 2 long strands.
⸗ Each strand made up of series of nucleotides or bases.
⸗ The base is on the 2 strands, or held together by bonds
(hydrogen bonds) forming cross links.
⸗ There are 4 kinds of bases A, G, C,
T.
⸗ A&T are complementary bases link
together by two bonds.
⸗ C&G can pair up and link together by
three bonds.
⸗ The two strands twist together into Helix.
33
34
