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REFLECT AND APPLY (a) The major energy storage compound of animals is fats (except in muscles). Why would this be advantageous? (b) Why don’t plants use fats/oils as their major energy storage compound?
Interpretation:
The following concept is to be explained
Concept introduction:
The catabolic breakdown of carbohydrates is an aerobic and anaerobic process. There are carbohydrate polymers, such as starch in plants and glycogen in animals, which represent stored energy of the body. These carbohydrates can be hydrolyzed to monomers and then oxidized to provide energy in response to the needs of an organism.
Answer to Problem 1RE
Solution:
Animals use fat as a major store compound for energy. Energy is released when bonds that hold together the molecules in food are broken.
Plants get energy from the sun to break the molecules of water and air during the process of photosynthesis.
Explanation of Solution
Animals use fats/oils as a major energy storage component.
Fats are an important micronutrient for animals. It is a dense source of energy that helps to keep animals active and energetic. It is stored in the body cell and burns itself while doing any strenuous work to provide energy and stamina. Triglycerides is the essential body fat. Since, unlike plants, animals are mobilized, they need high energy for running, flying, catching prey, and other activities. So, the requirement of the energy for such activities is fulfilled by the breaking down of fats in the animal body.
Plants do not use fats/oils as a major energy storage component.
Plants exhibit the process of photosynthesis for the formation of glucose and oxygen from carbon dioxide and water in the presence of sunlight. The excess of glucose in stores in plants, in the form of starch, is the same as glycogen stored in a human body. The breaking of fats in a body is a complex process and not energetically favored. Plants body cannot perform this process as they do not have an enzyme that are required for the breaking or the emulsifying of fats/oils in their body.
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Chapter 21 Solutions
Biochemistry
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BiochemistryBiochemistryISBN:9781305961135Author:Mary K. Campbell, Shawn O. Farrell, Owen M. McDougalPublisher:Cengage Learning