– Essential for life in both animals and plants.
– They are stored in plants as starch and in animals as glycogen.
– Cell wall of plants and bacteria, cotton fiber, furniture and many other wood items are made up of cellulose.
– Most carbohydrates (of food) are converted into glucose to release energy. Glycolysis is the metabolic pathway through which glucose is broken down to pyruvate to provide energy. Under aerobic conditions (in presence of O2) glucose is completely broken down to CO2 & H2O and releases lots of energy in the form of ATP, called cellular respiration. In absence of oxygen, glucose may form alcohol and CO2 , called alcoholic fermentation or Lactic acid and CO2 , called lactic acid fermentation with release of lesser amount of energy.
