Why Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences are Vital?
Nutritional Sciences:-
Nutritional science is a discipline that opens a
variety of doors in the medical, public, private and academic sectors.
Nutritional scientists help prevent diseases, bolster health, monitor the
nutritional needs of athletes, produce healthy and tasty food products and
educate others on nutrition. Since health is impossible without adequate
nutrients, nutritional scientists play a vital role for those interested in
improving general health and well-being and those looking to produce healthy
food products.
Agricultural Sciences:-
Agricultural science is a broad
multidisciplinary field that encompasses the parts of exact, natural, economic
and social sciences that are used in the practice and understanding of
agriculture. (Veterinary science, but not animal science, is often excluded
from the definition.)
Agricultural sciences include research and
development on:
Production techniques (e.g., irrigation
management, recommended nitrogen inputs)
Improving agricultural productivity in terms of
quantity and quality (e.g., selection of drought-resistant crops and animals,
development of new pesticides, yield-sensing technologies, simulation models of
crop growth, in-vitro cell culture techniques)
Transformation of primary products into
end-consumer products (e.g., production, preservation, and packaging of dairy
products)
Prevention and correction of adverse
environmental effects (e.g., soil degradation, waste management,
bioremediation)
Theoretical production ecology, relating to crop
production modeling
Traditional agricultural systems, sometimes
termed subsistence agriculture, which feed most of the poorest people in the
world. These systems are of interest as they sometimes retain a level of
integration with natural ecological systems greater than that of industrial
agriculture, which may be more sustainable than some modern agricultural
systems.
Vitamins
Definition:-
Any of various fat-soluble or water-soluble
organic substances essential in minute amounts for normal growth and activity
of the body and obtained naturally from plant and animal foods.
Vitamins Explained:-
Vitamins are divided into two groups:
fat-soluble vitamins and water-soluble vitamins. Vitamins A, D, E, and K are
fat-soluble vitamins stored in fatty tissue and the liver. Water-soluble
vitamins, vitamins B and C, aren't stored but used immediately by the body.
Although vitamins are needed in small doses, they are essential for proper cell
function and growth.
The Importance of
Vitamins:-
The body needs the nutrition found in vitamins
to be healthy and function properly. Most of the vitamins needed are found in
foods. When the body fails to receive the needed vitamins, deficiencies can
develop and result in health issues. Often doctors prescribe vitamin
supplements to make up shortages. Fat-soluble vitamins, such as vitamins A, D,
E and K, are able to be stored in body fat, so an excessive intake won't be
toxic. However, water-soluble vitamins such as vitamins B and C aren't stored
in the body and must be taken regularly. Excess amounts wash out of the body as
sweat and urine.
Macro Minerals:-
Macro Minerals are those which are needed by
plant in higher quantity.eg Oxygen, sulphur, nitrogen, hydrogen etc
Micro Minerals:-
Micro minerals are those which are need by the
plant in minute quantity.eg chlorine, etc
Sources Of
Carbohydrates:-
Starches As Sources of Carbohydrates:-
Starch-containing foods can be divided into four
classifications:
Starchy Vegetables
All kinds
of potatoes are in this classification. Also included are yams, winter squashes
(such as buttercup, hubbard and banana squashes), pumpkin, caladium root, taro
root, cassava root and Jerusalem artichokes. (Note: Technically, squashes and
pumpkins are fruits.)
Mildly Starchy Vegetables
This
classification includes carrots, cauliflower, beets, rutabaga and salsify.
Cereal Grains
This includes all cereals, whether they're whole
or refined, raw or cooked. Examples are wheat, rye, barley, rice, millet,
buckwheat and oats.
Legumes
This includes peanuts, lentils, peas and beans.
Uses of Carbohydrates:-
1.
Carbohydrates are one of the macro-nutrients that provide
the body with energy.
2.
Carbohydrates are one of the macro-nutrients that provide
the body with protein.
3.
Carbohydrates are one of the macro-nutrients that provide
the body with fats.
Sources of
proteins:-
·
Proteins
can be obtained from various food sources including dairy products, eggs, meat,
fish, vegetables, and legumes.
Uses of Proteins:-
1.
Proteins
have many functions. They serve as enzymatic catalysts, are used as transport
molecules (hemoglobin transports oxygen) and storage molecules (iron is stored
in the liver as a complex with the protein ferritin).
2.
They
are used in movement (proteins are the major component of muscles).
3.
They
are needed for mechanical support (skin and bone contain collagen-a fibrous
protein).
4.
they
mediate cell responses (rhodopsin is a protein in the eye which is used for
vision).
5.
Antibody
proteins are needed for immune protection.
Sources of Lipids:-
Lipids are organic compounds (chemicals built of
the element carbon). In addition to carbon atoms, they consist mostly hydrogen,
with a relatively low content of oxygen, nitrogen and other elements, as
compared to other compounds found in biology. They are hydrophobic, meaning
insoluble in water. In some cases, however, they can include
hydrophillic--"water-loving" entities--such as phosphate groups, in
which case they can dissolve both in oil and water. Types of lipids include
oils and fats, waxes, steroids, phospholipids and similar compounds.
Uses of lipids:-
·
Energy
·
Cells
·
Vitamins
·
Transmission
Sources of nucleic
acids:-
·
Vegetable
Sources
·
Meats
·
Eggs
and Dairy Products
·
Brewer's
Yeast and Supplements
Uses of Nucleic Acids:-
·
Identification
·
Storage
·
Carriers
·
Translation
·
Processing
Sources of Vitamins:-
·
Vitamin
A
·
Vitamin
D
·
Vitamin
E
·
Vitamin
K
·
Preserving
Vitamins
Uses of Vitamins:-
Biotin –
Uses:
converts fats and carbohydrates into energy; synthesises hormones and
cholesterol; helps control blood sugar levels.
B Complex – a combination of most or all of the B
Vitamins. General uses: converting foods into energy; growth; metabolism.
Vitamin B1 (thiamine) –
Uses:
helps supports the normal function of the nervous system, muscles and heart.
Vitamin B2 (riboflavin)
–
Uses: red
blood cell and antibody production; respiration; and regulating human growth
and reproduction.
Vitamin B3 (niacin) –
Uses: in
the digestive and nervous systems; promotes healthy skin. Helps balance good
and bad cholesterols.
Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic Acid) -
Uses:
normal growth; metabolism of fat and sugar to energy.
Monosaccharide,
Disaccharide, Trisaccharide
Monosaccharide:-
Monosaccharides’ (from Greek monos: single, sacchar: sugar) are the most basic units of biologically important
carbohydrates. They are the simplest form of sugar and are usually colorless,
water-soluble, crystalline solids. Some monosaccharides have a sweet taste.
Examples of monosaccharides include glucose (dextrose), fructose (laevulose),
galactose, xylose and ribose. Monosaccharides are the building blocks of
disaccharides such as sucrose and polysaccharides (such as cellulose and
starch). Further, each carbon atom that supports a hydroxyl group (except for
the first and last) is chiral, giving rise to a number of isomeric forms all
with the same chemical formula. For instance, galactose and glucose are both
aldohexoses, but have different chemical and physical properties.
Disaccharide:-
A disaccharide or biose is the carbohydrate
formed when two monosaccharides undergo a condensation reaction which involves
the elimination of a small molecule, such as water, from the functional groups
only. Like monosaccharides, disaccharides form an aqueous solution when
dissolved in water. Three common examples are sucrose, lactose, and maltose.
'Disaccharide' is one of the four chemical
groupings of carbohydrates (monosaccharide, disaccharide, oligosaccharide, and
polysaccharide).
Trisaccharides:-
Trisaccharides are oligosaccharides ('oligo'means
few) composed of three monosaccharides with two glycosidic bonds connecting
them. Similar to the disaccharides, each glycosidic bond can be formed between
any hydroxyl group on the component monosaccharides. Even if all three
component sugars are the same (e.g., glucose), different bond combinations
(regiochemistry) and stereochemistry (alpha- or beta-) result in triaccharides
that are diastereoisomers with different chemical and physical properties.
Enzymes
Any of various proteins, as pepsin, originating
from living cells and able to produce chemical changes in organic substances by
catalytic action are called enzymes.
Commercial
uses of enzymes:-
1.
Enzymes
are used in the production of food and drinks.
2.
Enzymes
are used to produce food products cheaper and faster.
3.
The
enzymes speed up the aging process of contain food products such as cheeses.
4.
Enzymes
are used to preserve the leather products.
5.
Enzymes
are used in the production of biofuel and fossil fuel.
Differentiate
between fats and oils
Fats
1.
Fats consists of
wide group of compounds that are generally soluble in organic solvents.
2.
Fats are
insoluble in water.
3.
Fats are either
solids or liquids at room temperature depending on their structure and
composition.
4.
Fats have greasy
feel, such as petroleum or crude oil.
5.
Fats form a
category of lipids, which can be distinguished from other lipids by their
chemical and physical properties.
|
Oils
1.
An oil is any
neutral, non polar chemical substance that is a viscous liquid at room
temperature soluble in alcohols or ethers.
2.
Oils are
immiscible in water.
3.
Oils are mostly
viscous liquids and are usually inflammable.
4.
Oils does not
have this property.
5.
Oils do not form
this category, these are obtained from animals , vegetable.
|
Hydrogenation of
vegetable oil:-
Vegetable
oils are trimester of glycerol and fatty acids of unsaturated long chains.
These oils are hydrogenated in the presence of nickel catalyst at 250 to 300OC
to form vegetable ghee.
Vegetable oil + H2 Ni-----250 deg.C-------à Vegetable ghee
Importance of
nucleic acids:-
1.
Nucleic acids are
important for cell functioning and therefore for life also.
2.
There are two
types of this acid DNA and RNA.
3.
They are tracks of
hereditary information in a cell.
4.
The cell can
maintain itself grow, create offspring and perform many functions.
5.
Nucleic acid are
macro molecule found in cell.
6.
Nucleic acids are
long molecules made up of many similar linked units.
Bonding in protein
molecule and denaturing of protein
Atoms are made up of a very small positive
nucleus and shells of electrons rotating around them. When atoms join together
to form molecules they form chemical bonds. The commonest types of bonds are ionic
and covalent bonds. Protein is generally used to refer to the complete
biological molecule in a stable conformation.
Observe and
explain the denaturing of protein:-
Denaturation is a process in which proteins or
nucleic acids lose the tertiary structure and secondary structure which is
present in their native state, by application of some external stress or
compound such as a strong acid or base, a concentrated inorganic salt, an
organic solvent (e.g., alcohol or chloroform), or heat. If proteins in a living
cell are denatured, this results in disruption of cell activity and possibly
cell death. Denatured proteins can exhibit a wide range of characteristics,
from loss of solubility to communal aggregation.
This concept is unrelated to denatured alcohol,
which is alcohol that has been mixed with additives to make it unsuitable for
human consumption.
Common examples:-
When food is cooked, some of its proteins become
denatured. This is why boiled eggs become hard and cooked meat becomes firm.
A classic example of denaturing in proteins
comes from egg whites, which are largely egg albumins in water. Fresh from the
eggs, egg whites are transparent and liquid. Cooking the thermally unstable
whites turns them opaque, forming an interconnected solid mass. The same
transformation can be effected with a denaturing chemical. Pouring egg whites
into a beaker of acetone will also turn egg whites translucent and solid. The
skin that forms on curdled milk is another common example of denatured protein.
The cold appetizer known as ceviche is prepared by chemically
"cooking" raw fish and shellfish in an acidic citrus marinade,
without heat.Although denaturing egg whites is irreversible, in many other
cases denaturing is reversible.
Denatured proteins can exhibit a wide range of
characteristics, from loss of solubility to communal aggregation. Communal
aggregation is the phenomenon of aggregation of the hydrophobic proteins to
come closer and form the bonding between them, so as to reduce the total area
exposed to water.