Tag: constituents of food

Our mineral needs are met from food. Minerals also help your body function. Some minerals, like iodine and fluoride, are only needed in very small quantities. Others, such as calcium, magnesium, and potassium, are needed in larger amounts. As with vitamins, if you eat a varied diet, you will probably get enough of most minerals.

Chromium is a trace element that enhances the action of insulin, helping to regulate blood sugar levels.

Iodine is used in chemistry as an indicator for starch. When starch is mixed with iodine in solution, an intensely dark blue colour develops, representing a starch/iodine complex. Starch is a substance common to most plant cells and so a weak iodine solution will stain starch present in the cells. Iodine is one component in the staining technique known as Gram staining, used in microbiology. 

Cereals are staple food and are important source of energy,carbohydrates,protein and fibre. Examples of cereals include wheat, oats,quinoa,maize,sorghum etc. So the correct answer is 'Carbohydrates'

Carbohydrates are more suitable for the production of energy in the body then proteins and fats. Carbohydrate are also stored in the body cells as glycogen and are used for the production of energy whenever required.

Carbohydrate digestion begins in the mouth with the action of salivary amylase on starch.

The energy content is approximately 4 kcal/g for carbohydrates, 4 kcal/g for proteins, and 9 kcal/g for fats. The ratio is roughly 1:1:2.

Sugar beetroots are processed into white sugar, pulp and molasses for food, feed or industrial applications. A typical sugar beetroot consists of 75.9% water, 2.6% non-sugars, 18.0% sugar and 5.5% pulp. In the sugar fraction, 83.1% is recovered as crystalline sucrose, 12.5% is recovered as molasses.

Sugarcane is the major source of sugar production in India. The botanical name of sugarcane is Saccharum officinarum.

Acetyl CoA is the central intermediate in metabolism, produced from both the breakdown of carbohydrates (via pyruvate) and fatty acids (via beta-oxidation).