ELEMENTS OF LIFE

92% elements occurring naturally in plants

16 are essential elements
*Hydrogen
*Carbon
94% of the mass of most plant tissues
*Oxygen
*Nitrogen
Organic compounds molecules that contain carbon
Inorganic chemicals non carbon compounds
Biochemicals are organic and inorganic molecules that occur in
living organism
Four Major Classes of Large Molecules (Constituting the Mass
of a Plant)
1. Carbohydrates a substance composed of carbon, hydrogen,
oxygen
a. Monosaccharide - glucose , galactose, mannose , fructose
b. Disaccharide sucrose(glucose + fructose), maltose
use in maple syrup

to make beer

c. Polysaccharide
*Cellulose structural polysaccharide
-holds cells together
*Pectin & Hemicellulose gluey polysaccharide
that holds cellulose fibrils together

*Gums are complex, branched polysaccharide

consisting of several kinds of
monomers ex. Gum arabic
Uses of Gum Arabic
1. use to stabilize postage stamp glue
2. hand lotion
3. liquid soaps
*Agar & carrageenan commercially important
polysaccharide from red algae; a slimy
substance that surrounds the cellulose
in cell walls of certain red algae
*Amylose & amylopectin storage polysaccharide
wrinkled pea

rice & corn

*Starch storage polysaccharide in plants

2. Proteins important in cell structure and as storage reserves
-are also enzymes that catalyze biochemical
reactions
*Storage proteins are stored mostly in seeds and are
used as a source of nutrition for the early
development of seedlings
ex. Corn with storage protein called zein
*Extensinstructural protein in cell walls & membranes
-thought to play a role in the expansion of
cell wall

*Enzymes are the catalyst for biochemical reactions

-speed up reaction without being consumed
in the process
3. Nucleic acid
3.1 RNA (ribonucleic acid) with sugar ribose
3.2 DNA(deoxyribonucleic acid) with deoxyribose sugar
4. Lipids for energy storage
- with water repellant property
Common Lipids in Plants:
*oils are fats that are liquid at room temperature
-combination of a molecule glycerol with 3 long
long chain organic acid, called fatty acids
fat is a triacylgyceride
abundant in seeds
ex. Cotton, sunflower, coconut, sesame, olive
peanut, corn, castor bean, soy bean
*phospholipids
*waxes ex. Cuticle of leaves, fruits, herbaceous stem
are called epicuticular wax
Cutin & suberin - in the cork cells in bark
Compounds in Lesser Amounts(make by plants)
1. Phenolics
2. Alkaloids
3. Sterols
4. Flavonoids

 Polymers are made of many identical or similar monomers

assembled into large molecules
ex. Cellulose, starch, enzymes, DNA, waxes,
lignin & tannin
Glucose is the only monomers in cellulose & starch
Enzymes and proteins consist of twenty different amino acid
monomers: there are probably more than 50,000 unique
polymers made from amino acids in every plant
Only four nucleotides make a polymer of DNA, but every
organism has a different set of DNA molecules