Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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T TO OP PI IC C 1 1: : N NU UT TR RI IT TI IO ON N
The 7 Basic Food Substances
All the food we eat is made up of the following 7 basic substances:
1. Carbohydrates
2. Fats
3. Proteins
4. Vitamins
5. Minerals
6. Fibre
7. Water
Carbohydrates, fats, proteins and vitamins are organic substances because they
contain carbon in their molecular structure. Water and minerals are inorganic
substances since they dont contain carbon.
Carbohydrates, fats and proteins are needed in bulk in our diet, while vitamins and
minerals are needed in smaller amounts.
A person whose diet lacks any of these nutrients suffers from malnutrition, and this
may give rise to a deficiency disease.
Food gives us energy. The amount of energy needed by our body isnt the same for
everyone. The amount of energy needed to live depends on the persons sex, job,
attitude, age and other factors like if the person is a pregnant woman.
1. Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are organic substances made up of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.
They are very important because they provide energy for the body. There are 3 types
of carbohydrates: sugars, starch, and cellulose.
A. Sugars
Glucose (C
6
H
12
O
6
)
Fructose (sugars in fruit)
Sucrose (table sugar)
Biology Form 4 Notes (2003-2004)2005 Jordan Mifsud (4.8) 5.8
Page 2
Glucose
Molecule
Lactose (found in milk)
Maltose (found in barley grains)
B. Strach
Found in bread, potatoes, rice, cereals etc. Plants store food as starch.
C. Cellulose
Found in all unrefined plant food. An important source of fibre.
Carbohydrates are all made up of molecules of glucose bonded (joined) together. The
simplest form of carbohydrate is glucose. Two molecules of glucose joined together
with a bond, form maltose, lactose and sucrose sugars. Starch, cellulose and
glycogen are formed when 3 or more glucose molecules are joined together with
bonds.
Glucoses molecule is represented by a hexagon:
A single sugar molecule is called a monosaccharide. Examples of monosaccharides
are glucose and fructose.
Sucrose, maltose and lactose are all disaccharides because they have 2 sugar
molecules bonded together.
Starch, cellulose and glycogen are all polysaccharides because they are made up of
3 or more sugar molecules bonded together.
Biology Form 4 Notes (2003-2004)2005 Jordan Mifsud (4.8) 5.8
Page 3
Carbohydrates are found in cereals, pasta, bread, fruit, potatoes sugary food such as
ice cream etc.
Glucoses chemical formula is the following: C
6
H
12
O
6
.
Plants store food as starch, while animals store food as glycogen. Both glycogen
and starch are polysaccharides. Polysaccharides are NOT sweet but ARE insoluble.
2. Fats
Fats are organic substances. Lipids are fats in a liquid state. Fats are useful
for our body, because they:
provide energy,
can be stored for later use,
build up cell membranes,
layers serve as an insulating layers under mammals skins and
and oils on the surface of the skin makes the skin waterproof.
Fat is found in vegetable oil, milk, fried foods, eggs, beef etc.
The simplest fat molecule is made up of 1 molecule of glycerol and 3 fatty acids
bonded together.
Glycerol
Fatty Acids
Fatty Acids
Fatty Acids
Biology Form 4 Notes (2003-2004)2005 Jordan Mifsud (4.8) 5.8
Page 4
3. Proteins
Proteins are organic substances made up of hydrogen, carbon and oxygen,
nitrogen and sometimes they contain sulphur. Proteins are needed by the body to
grow and repair tissues (a cellular structure), they are components of cell
membranes, are used to produce enzymes (biological catalysts) and hormones.
The simplest possible protein is an amino acid, thus proteins are made up of amino
acids, which can be represented as any form of shape (circle, rectangle, square).
Amino acids are joined together by peptide bonds. When 2 amino acids connected
together with a peptide bond, a dipeptide forms. When 3 or more amino acids are
joined together, a polypeptide is formed.
Amino Acid Dipeptide Polypeptide
When proteins are heated, they are denatured; they change shape, its properties and
functions are destroyed. Food rich in proteins are milk, meat, eggs, nuts, fish etc.
4. Water
Water is vital for animals and almost all living organisms. It makes up to one third of
the human body mass. Water is an inorganic substance with the chemical formula
H
2
O.
Water is important for animals because it gives support to aquatic animals, gametes
(sex cells like sperms and eggs) travel in a watery medium, sweating has a cooling
effect on the body, and urine and tears are mostly made up from water. There is water
even in the joints, so that reduces friction when bones move. Even blood is partially
made up of water.
Water is also needed by plants, to make leaves turgid, guard cells move by osmosis
and water takes part in the chemical reaction in which plants make there food (by
photosynthesis). Some seeds germinate with the help of water.
Biology Form 4 Notes (2003-2004)2005 Jordan Mifsud (4.8) 5.8
Page 5
5. Minerals
Many minerals are important for our body. There are other trace elements not listed in
the table which are useful for other bodily functions.
Mineral Found in Use in the body Deficiency disease
Calcium
Milk, cheese,
fish, mineral
water
Developing bones
and maintaining their
rigidity. Forms
intracellular cement
and the cell
membranes, and in
regulating nervous
excitability and
muscular contraction.
Rickets
Iron
Tomatoes, liver,
kidneys
Part of haemoglobin in
red blood cells.
Anaemia headaches,
tiredness, and
lethargy
Phosphorous
Many foods,
e.g. milk
Important for bones
and teeth.
Osteomalacia
(rickets)
Sodium
Salt, many
foods.
Present in extra cellular
fluid, and regulates it.
Cramps
Iodine
Sea food,
drinking water
Needed to synthesize
hormones of the thyroid
gland.
Goitre
Fluorine
Water,
toothpaste
Builds a layer above
enamel.
Can lead to tooth decay
Magnesium
Most foods Important for
metabolism.
Tremors and
convulsions
6. Vitamins
Vitamins are very, very important for the body, but only in small quantities.
Vitamin Found in Use Deficiency disease
A
Liver, carrot Important for eyes. Night Blindness
Exophthalmia.
Biology Form 4 Notes (2003-2004)2005 Jordan Mifsud (4.8) 5.8
Page 6
D
Fish liver oil Healthy bones and
teeth.
Rickets.
E
Milk, egg yolk,
lettuce
Healthy reproductive
system.
Sterility.
K
Cabbage, spinach,
fish livers
Important for the
coagulation of blood.
Disorders in blood
clotting.
B1
Pork, organ meats
lean meats, eggs,
leafy green
vegetables, whole or
enriched cereals,
berries, nuts, and
legumes.
Catalyst in
carbohydrate
metabolism, enabling
pyretic acid to be
metabolised and
carbohydrates to
release their energy.
Beriberi;
Disturbances,
impaired sensory
perception,
weakness, periods of
irregular heartbeat,
and partial paralysis.
B2
Liver, milk, meat,
dark green
vegetables, whole
grain and enriched
cereals, pasta, bread,
and mushrooms.
Serves as a
coenzyme-one that
must combine with a
portion of another
enzyme to be
effective-in the
metabolism of
carbohydrates, fats,
and, especially,
respiratory proteins.
Skin lesions.
Niacin (B6)
Liver, poultry, meat,
canned tuna and
salmon.
Works as a
coenzyme in the
release of energy
from nutrients.
Pellagra Diarrhoea,
mental confusion,
irritability, and, when
the central nervous
system is affected,
depression and
mental disturbances.
C
Citrus fruits, fresh
strawberries,
cantaloupe,
pineapple, and
guava.
Important in the
formation and
maintenance of
collagen, the protein
that supports many
body structures and
Scurvy; Bleeding
gums
Biology Form 4 Notes (2003-2004)2005 Jordan Mifsud (4.8) 5.8
Page 7
plays a major role in
the formation of
bones and teeth.
7. Fibre
Fibre is mainly cellulose from plant cell walls. Humans cannot digest fibre, but it is
important because it helps food to pass from the gut, and prevents constipation.
Food rich in fibre are whole meal bread, bran, cereals, fresh fruit and vegetables.
Food Tests
1) Test for Starch: with Iodine solution. If result is positive, a blue-black
precipitate forms.
2) Test for Glucose: with Benedicts Solution and the mixture is heated. If the
result is positive, an orange brown solution forms.
3) Test for Proteins: with Copper Sulphate and Sodium hydroxide. A purple
colour forms if the tested food contains proteins.
4) Test for Fats: with Ethanol (alcohol) A m
mmi
iil
ll k
kky
yy w
wwh
hhi
iit
tte
ee solution forms in
presence of fat.
5) Test for Vitamin C: with DCPIP. A blue to a c
cco
ool
llo
oou
uur
rrl
lle
ees
sss
ss liquid forms in
presence of vitamin C.
Biology Form 4 Notes (2003-2004)2005 Jordan Mifsud (4.8) 5.8
Page 8
Effect of Temp. on Enzymes
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
10 20 30 40 50
Temerature in degrees celcius
m
g
o
f
p
r
o
d
u
c
t
p
e
r
m
i
n
.
mg of products per
minute
T TO OP PI IC C 2 2 E EN NZ ZY YM ME ES S
Enzymes are biological catalysts. A catalyst enhances the speed of a chemical
reaction. Thus, enzymes are catalysts, which enhance the speed of the chemical
reactions taking place in the body.
Properties of Enzymes
Enzymes are proteins, therefore, they become denatured by heat, which means that
when heated above 40
o
C, they change shape and do not work anymore. When the
temperature is lower than normal, enzymes become inactive. Enzymes are specific,
which means that every enzyme catalysis only one type of food substance, for
example, the enzyme amylase catalysis only starch, and does not take part in any
other chemical reaction involving another food substance.
Enzymes do not take part in the proper chemical reactions (they do not react), they
just enhance the speed, and this property makes them used over and over again.
An enzyme catalysis a reaction involving a substrate; the particular nutrient the
enzyme acts on. When the reaction is complete, a product is produced. An example is
amylase acting on starch. Amylase, which is an enzyme, acts on its substrate
(starch), to produce a product (maltose), which is a simpler type of carbohydrate.
The rate of productivity by enzymes is very affected by temperature and by pH. The
graph shows the rate of the activity by the enzymes in relation to temperature. The
rate increases slowly when the temperature rises between 10
o
C to 40
o
C, but when the
temperature rises further, activity decrease drastically, because enzymes are being
denatured.
Biology Form 4 Notes (2003-2004)2005 Jordan Mifsud (4.8) 5.8
Page 9
The graph here below shows the sensitivity of enzymes to pH. It is a bell-shaped
graph, showing that the enzymes work best that at their optimum pH, which in this
case is pH 2.
An example:
The Lock and Key Theory
The lock and key theory is how scientists believe
enzymes catalyze their substrate. It is shown in this
diagram. The substrate approaches the enzyme, then
the substrate docks into the active site, where the
reaction takes place. After the reaction, the enzyme
releases the products.
Effect of Temp. on Enzymes
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
0 0.5 1 2 3 3.5 4
pH
a
c
t
i
v
i
t
y
o
f
e
n
z
y
m
e
s
activity of enzyme
Effect of pH on Enzymes
Optimum pH
Amylase acts on
Starch to
produce
Enzyme Substrate
maltose
Product
Enzyme
Active Site
Reaction taking
place
Products leave
active site
Substrate
Biology Form 4 Notes (2003-2004)2005 Jordan Mifsud (4.8) 5.8
Page 10
Economic Important of Enzymes
Enzymes can be artificially made and used in Biological washing powders. These
washing powders contain enzymes that work at a suitable temperature (e.g. 40
o
C) and
dissolve food stains from fabrics. They are specific to particular stains.
Protease is used for tenderising meat and removing hair from hides.
Amylase is used to covert starch to sugars to make syrups and juices.
Enzyme Inhibitors
There are some poisons, such as cyanide and arsenic that block the enzymes active
site, therefore the substrate cannot enter the active site and the reaction doesnt take
place. Certain pesticides block the active site of pests enzymes so that its respiratory
system stops working and the pest dies.
Dentition
The teeth are made of hardest substance found in the body. Humans have 4 types of
teeth:
1) Incisors: Adapted for cutting food.
2) Canines: for holing and tearing.
3) Premolars: For chewing and grinding food.
4) Molars: For chewing and grinding food.
Humans aged 6 months begin to grow 20 milk teeth (baby) teeth. Once he or she is
an adult, 32 permanent teeth will be developed.
The tooth is made up of 2 sections, an exposed Crown and the Root which is
embedded in the gum. The enamel (calcium phosphate: CaPO
3
) is the upper part of
the crown. It is very hard. Then beneath it there is the dentin. The tooth is primary
made of dentin, which is a substance, similar to bone but harder. The central region of
the tooth is the pulp cavity. It contains the pulp, which is composed of connective
tissue with blood vessels, nerves etc. the pulp is connected to the blood capillaries,
which give nutrients and oxygen to the dental cells.
Tooth decay (dental caries) is caused by bacteria in the mouth which produce acids
to digest food stuck in and between the teeth.
To prevent tooth decay, varies activities must be regularly done:
Biology Form 4 Notes (2003-2004)2005 Jordan Mifsud (4.8) 5.8
Page 11
Brushing teeth with a fluoride toothpaste
Regular visits to the dentist
X-rays of the jaw to ensure that no cavity is being developed where the dentist
cannot see
Use tooth floss
Wash mouth with a suitable mouth wash
Herbivores have different a dental system since they eat only vegetable matter. In
herbivores, there is a gap called diastema between the incisors and the molars.
Instead of the upper incisors, herbivores have a hard pad to pull leaves and grass out
of the branches or soil. They have no canines and molars have a flat surface. Their
teeth have an open root, which means that they grow continuously. Carnivores
molars have cusps, to ensure that food is better chewed. They have canines, and
upper incisors, while teeth have a closed root unlike herbivores. The following
article shows more clearly the difference between carnivores and herbivore dentition.
Biology Form 4 Notes (2003-2004)2005 Jordan Mifsud (4.8) 5.8
Page 12
Meat Eaters and Plant Eaters
In carnivores (right), the front of the skull has a pair of enlarged
canine teeth and the lower jaw moves only in an up-and-down
direction, which assists with the capture and holding of prey. In
herbivores (left), the canine teeth are absent and the premolars and
molars are well developed. The jaw construction also allows for the
sideways movement of the lower jaw in relation to the upper jaw,
which helps to provide the grinding motion necessary for breaking
up plant materials into a state suitable for swallowing and digestion.
Microsoft Encarta Premium Suite 2005. 1993-2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Diastema
Biology Form 4 Notes (2003-2004)2005 Jordan Mifsud (4.8) 5.8
Page 13
T TO OP PI IC C 3 3: : F FE EE ED DI IN NG G
Feeding can be divided into 4 types:
1. Saprophytic: Saprophytic organisms such as fungi and some bacteria (called
decomposers) that feed on dead decaying matter. Saprophytes are useful to
the environment because they recycle nutrients.
2. Parasitic: When parasitic organisms feed on or in another organism harming
it.
3. Holozoic (heterotrophic): Animals feed heterotrophically, because they must
search for their food. Herbivores eat vegetable matter and have special
bodily structures to help them digest cellulose. Carnivores eat meat and are
usually predators. Omnivores, such as humans eat both meat and vegetable
matter.
4. Holophytic (autotrophic): Plants feed with this type of feeding. They are able
to make their own food by photosynthesis.
Holozoic Nutrition
The digestive system can be divided into various stages, but it is basically divided
into 5 main stages:
1. Ingestion: food is ate, chewed and mixed with saliva.
2. Digestion: Begins from the mouth by salivary amylase (starch-breaking
enzyme) and continues till the duodenum (first part of the small intestine),
were enzymes break down food into simpler soluble products (Glucose,
amino acids, fatty acids and glycerol), stage by stage, and prepares nutrients
for absorption.
3. Absorption: the blood absorbs soluble products in the ileum (second part of
the small intestine).
4. Assimilation: the nutrients are then assimilated (taken to) various organs
around the body.
5. Defecation (Egestion): Undigested matter such as fibre is egested (moved
out) of the body. [Do not mix excretion with egesting or defecation! Excretion
is the removal of waste products made by chemicals reaction within the cells;
e.g. excreting urine].
Biology Form 4 Notes (2003-2004)2005 Jordan Mifsud (4.8) 5.8
Page 14
Now the 5 stages will be examined more in detail.
Ingestion
The first stage, ingestion, is the actual eating of food, i.e. using teeth.
Digestion
The second stage, digestion begins from the mouth. It is divided into 2 other parts:
1. Physical digestion: teeth crush food to increase surface area for enzyme
action to break down food.
2. Chemical digestion: food is mixed with enzymes and digestive juices to
breaks down food into the 3 soluble products of digestion. The chemical
digestion continues till the duodenum. Chemical digestion also begins in the
mouth. When food is mixed with saliva, the enzyme salivary amylase starts
breaking down starch into maltose
Chemical Digestion in more detail
Saliva contains salivary amylase, mucus, water and lysozyme (which is also an
enzyme) that kills bacteria. The food, after that it is chewed, forms into a bolus, (a
ball) of mixed food with saliva that goes down the oesophagus (or gullet). Between
the mouth and the oesophagus there is the epiglottis. The epiglottis is a flap that
closes so as to prevent food entering the windpipe (trachea).
The oesophagus is made up of two layers of muscle cells. On layer is circular while
the other runs lengthwise. When they contract and relax, they push down food
downwards in a movement called peristalsis. Therefore food does not go down by
gravity (astronauts would NOT survive in space if it would!). The food is pushed
down to the stomach.
The stomach is made up of layers of muscles that make it twist and squeeze so that
food is mixed with gastric juices. There are about 35 million gastric glands that
produce gastric juice. Gastric juice contains:
Pepsinogen: an inactive form of pepsin that is then activated by the
hydrochloric acid.
Pepsin: digestive enzyme, which breaks down proteins into smaller
polypeptides.
Mucus: Protects the stomach wall from being digested by the enzymes
(prevention of self-digestion).
Biology Form 4 Notes (2003-2004)2005 Jordan Mifsud (4.8) 5.8
Page 15
Hydrochloric acid (chemical formula HCl) kills bacteria and provides and
acidic, optimum pH for pepsin to work.
After 3 to 4 hours of digestion, food becomes chyme. At intervals it is passed into the
small intestine. The first part of the small intestine is called the duodenum. The
duodenum receives digestive juices for 3 different places: intestinal wall, pancreas
and the liver.
From the intestinal wall, mainly 5 enzymes are produced:
1. Trypsin: breaks down polypeptides into dipeptides.
2. Maltase: breaks down maltose into glucose.
3. Lipase: breaks down fats (lipids are liquid fats) into fatty acids and glycerol.
4. Peptidases: breaks down dipeptides into amino acids
5. Sucrase: breaks down sucrose into glucose
These enzymes are summarised below in the following table:
Enzymes from the
Intestinal Wall
Substrate Product
Trypsin polypeptides dipeptides
Maltase maltose glucose
Lipase fats fatty acids and glycerol
Peptidases dipeptides amino acids
Sucrase sucrose
glucose
From the pancreas mainly 4 chemicals are produced:
1. Sodium hydrogen carbonate (NaHCO
3
): neutralizes acids from the stomach
and provides alkaline pH in the duodenum.
2. Trypsin: breaks down polypeptides into dipeptides.
3. Pancreatic amylase: breaks down starch into maltose.
4. Lipase: Breaks down fats into fatty acids and glycerol.
These chemicals are enlisted here below:
Chemicals from the
Pancreas
Function / Substrate Product
Sodium hydrogen
carbonate
neutralizes acids from the
stomach and provides
alkaline pH in the
duodenum
Biology Form 4 Notes (2003-2004)2005 Jordan Mifsud (4.8) 5.8
Page 16
Trypsin
polypeptides dipeptides
Pancreatic amylase
Starch maltose
Lipase
Fats Fatty acids and glycerol
From the liver, the duodenum receives no enzymes, but gets bile. Bile is a green
chemical, which helps to break down large fat molecules for lipase to act on it: this
process is called emulsification. It has a detergent effect, and it is stored in the gall
bladder and it is secreted from the gall bladder to the duodenum through the bile
duct. Digestion ends here.
Food has been all broken down into their soluble products, glucose, amino acids,
fatty acids and glycerol. They can be now absorbed into the blood stream from the
ileum.
The liver
The liver is the largest internal organ in vertebrates. It does the following functions:
synthesis of proteins, immune and clotting factors, and oxygen and fat-carrying
substances. Its chief digestive function is the secretion of bile, a solution critical to fat
emulsion (emulsification) and absorption. The liver also removes excess glucose from
circulation and stores it until it is needed. It converts excess amino acids into useful
forms and filters drugs and poisons (alcohol, pills etc) from the bloodstream,
neutralizing them and excreting them in bile. The liver has two main lobes located
just under the diaphragm on the right side of the body.
The Ileum
The ileum is a very long part of the gut so that absorption takes places efficiently.
Here, soluble products: glucose, amino acids, fatty acids and enter glycerol enter the
blood stream through millions of small finger-like structures called villi. The villi are
tiny, to increase surface area for absorption. Each villus is covered with tiny hairs
called microvilli, that are actual villi but smaller, like root hairs on a root in plants.
Villi have a thin lining and a good blood supply to allow blood to absorb the soluble
nutrients. Food passes through the intestine with the help of muscular contraction
(peristalsis) of the intestinal wall, which is also moist to allow food to pass well and to
enhance the speed of absorption.
Biology Form 4 Notes (2003-2004)2005 Jordan Mifsud (4.8) 5.8
Page 17
The villuss structure is shown here;
Glucose and amino acids are absorbed by the blood capillaries, which are very thin
blood vessels. Fatty acids and glycerol, being large molecules are absorbed by the
lacteal first before draining into the blood stream.
The Large Intestine
The large intestine is divided into the colon and rectum. The colon is the part where
water is absorbed. In the rectum, faeces (undigested food such as fiber) are stored
until it is egested out of the body through the anus, within 24-48 hours after eating.
The rectum wall is covered with a layer of mucus to ease the passage of faeces. This
process is called defeacation.
The Caecum and the Appendix
The caecum and the appendix are vestigial organs, i.e. they do not have any known
function in humans. In herbivores called ruminants, (such as rabbits) the caecum and
appendix contain cellulose-digesting bacteria that produce the enzyme cellulase to
digest cellulose in plant cells.
A summary of the digestive system
Thin Epithelium
Blood Vessels (absorb
glucose and amino acids)
Lacteal
(absorbs
fatty acids
and glycerol
Biology Form 4 Notes (2003-2004)2005 Jordan Mifsud (4.8) 5.8
Page 18
Digestion in Herbivores
Herbivores such as cows, sheep and horses are called ruminants because they contain
a special digestive system. They have a special type of dentition, different from
carnivorous dentition, to allow them to extract grass from soil easily. Their small
intestine is about 40 meters long, to allow them to digest cellulose completely, before
it reaches the end of the gut.
Their gut contains cellulose-digesting bacteria. These bacteria produce the enzyme
cellulase that catalysis the reaction that breaks down cellulose into soluble sugar
(glucose). The bacteria gain shelter and protection as well as food from the ruminants
so their relation is a mutualistic one (both benefiting from one another).
These bacterial are housed in the caecum and appendix, so in the ruminants, they are
not vestigial organs as in humans.
Ruminants have a special type of stomach called rumen. The rumen is a large
stomach that contains 3 other chambers. While the ruminant is grazing, grass is
swallowed and enters the rumen. When the animals stops eating, it regurgitates the
grass (brings the already swallowed food back to its mouth), little by little to allow it
to be chew and swallowed properly and then the food enters into the other 3 chambers
to further digest the food before it goes into the small intestine.
The following article helps you understand how the ruminants digestive system
works.
Biology Form 4 Notes (2003-2004)2005 Jordan Mifsud (4.8) 5.8
Page 19
Four-Chambered Stomach
True ruminants have four-chambered stomachs. They include
sheep, domestic cattle, goats, antelopes, deer, and giraffes.
Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Microsoft Encarta Premium Suite 2005. 1993-2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights
reserved.
More information about the Liver
The liver receives blood mixed with the soluble products of digestion from the
hepatic portal vein. The liver receives blood rich in oxygen from the heart through
the hepatic artery. Then the blood leaves the liver through the hepatic vein which
also carries a lot of heat since inside the liver, a lot of chemical reactions occur.
Hepatic portal vein
Hepatic Vein
Liver
Hepatic Artery
Gut
Biology Form 4 Notes (2003-2004)2005 Jordan Mifsud (4.8) 5.8
Page 20
T TO OP PI IC C 4 4: : R RE ES SP PI IR RA AT TI IO ON N
What is Respiration and Why do we need it?
Respiration is a chemical reaction catalysed by enzymes. It takes place in each
and every mitochondria of the cells. Respiration is done to obtain energy needed
by the body. For vital functions to take place, the body needs energy. It also needs
energy to keep a constant body temperature and to transport chemical messages.
Plants need energy for active transport to take place.
Gas exchange
Differences between respiration and breathing:
Respiration is carried out in all cells to obtain energy.
Breathing is the exchange of gases, in case of humans and other organisms, the
removal of carbon dioxide and obtaining oxygen.
In large organisms such as mammals, respiratory surfaces are required for gas
exchange (breathing, not respiration) to take place efficiently. In humans, like all
mammals, lungs are used for this purpose.
There are two types of respiration: Aerobic (oxygen involved) and anaerobic
(no oxygen involved).
Anaerobic Respiration
Anaerobic means without oxygen, and thus this type of chemical reaction involves
only sugars (obtained from digestion of food). Energy is released by the chemical
breaking of bonds in organic molecules (containing carbon) present in sugars and
other carbohydrates, obtained from digestion. There is more than one type of
anaerobic respiration; it depends on the organism.
One very common type of anaerobic respiration is alcohol fermentation
represented in this equation below:
This type of reaction (alcohol fermentation) is done by yeast. As it produces
alcohol, it is important for world economy for the production of beer, wine and
other alcoholic drinks. Yeasts most important function is surely in the production
of bread. Anaerobic respiration is also important for the economy as certain
) 210 ( 2 2
5 2 2 6 12 6
kJ energy OH H C CO O H C + +
Biology Form 4 Notes (2003-2004)2005 Jordan Mifsud (4.8) 5.8
Page 21
anaerobic bacteria produce lactic acid, which is used to make butter, yoghurt
cheese and other dairy products. Some other types of bacteria produce methane
gas (CH
4
), a flammable gas used for cooking and fuelling machinery, lighting, and
used in the production of hydrogen, hydrogen cyanide, ammonia, ethyne, and
formaldehyde.
Anaerobic respiration takes place in humans as well. During strenuous exercise,
blood vessels cannot provide enough oxygen for muscle cells to do proper aerobic
respiration; in this case, anaerobic respiration takes place in the muscles. In these
reactions, lactic acid (slightly poisonous) is produced and can cause cramps. After
the exercise, the lactic acid is converted into carbon dioxide and water by oxygen.
This whole process is known as oxygen debt.
Making Bread
This is a simple method to make bread.
Some yeast and sugar and mixed with a little warm water.
After some time, the mixture froths and this indicates that yeast cells are
becoming active.
The yeast liquid is mixed with flour, salt and warm water to make the
dough.
The dough is then kneaded for a few minutes to ensure that all the yeast
and the rest of the ingredients and evenly distributed.
The dough is left in a warm place for fermentation is take place. Yeast
produces alcohol and carbon dioxide and this gas causes the dough to rise.
After an hour, the dough should have doubled its size.
The dough is baked in a hot oven and yeast cells die. Alcohol, with a low
boiling point evaporates almost immediately and the carbon dioxide leaves
the bread with small holes inside it.
Aerobic respiration
Aerobic respiration is the respiration, which involves oxygen. An example of
aerobic respiration is shown here in this equation:
KJ) ( water xed carbon dio oxygen e glu
[energy] O H CO O O H C
2880
2 2 2
cos
6 12 6
6 6 + + +