Cotton towels are composed of the polysaccharide cellulose E

Cotton towels are composed of the polysaccharide cellulose

Explain why your cotton towel does a good job drying your off but doesn\'t make for a good snack. Provide molecular detail in your explanation being sure

to compare and contrast cellulose with starch.

Solution

Cotton towels as you know are good to wipe off your body but surely does not make a good snack as it is made up of cellulose. Our hman bodies are unable to digest cellulose. We lack the enzymes that break down the beta acetal linkages present in the cellulose.

Whereas starch (fries) personally being my favourite, is easily digested in our body . Infact its digestion starts in the mouth itself in the presence of salivary amylase or ptyalin. Pancreatic amylase in the small intestine breaks down the starch to alpha dextrin which is then digested by gluco amylase and broken down into maltose and maltriose