Carbohydrates are commonly found as starch in plant storage organs. which of the following five properties of starch (A-E) make it useful as a storage material?
A) Easily translocated
B) Chemically non-reactive
C) Easily digested by animals
D) Osmotically inactive
E) Synthesized during photosynthesis
The useful properties are
-
(B) and (C)
-
(B) and (D)
-
(A), (C) and (E)
-
(A) and (E)
C.
(A), (C) and (E)
Starch is a high molecular weight polymer of D-glucose in the alpha 1→4 linkage. It is synthesised in chloroplasts as it is one of the stable end product of photosynthesis. It is most abundant and common storage polysaccharide in plants hence, a most staple food for man and herbivores. It is a mixture of two types of glucose homopolysaccharide viz, amylose and amylopectin. During day time the starch synthesis in chloroplast is coordinated with sucrose synthesis in the cytosol. Typically about 90% of total solute carried in phloem is the carbohydrate sucrose. a disaccharide. This is relatively inactive and highly soluble sugar playing little direct role in metabolism and so making an ideal transport sugar.
