carbohydratedegrading

Carbohydratedegrading, also referred to as carbohydrate degradation, refers to the breakdown of complex carbohydrates into simpler sugars through chemical, enzymatic, or microbial processes. This includes polysaccharides such as starch, cellulose, glycogen, hemicelluloses, and chitin, as well as oligo- and disaccharides. The process is central to digestion, agriculture, industrial processing, and environmental carbon cycling.

In biological systems, enzymatic hydrolysis is the primary mechanism. Hydrolytic enzymes called glycoside hydrolases catalyze cleavage of glycosidic bonds: amylases break starch to maltose and glucose; cellulases release glucose from cellulose; xylanases and other hemicellulases cleave non-starch polysaccharides; glucosidases complete hydrolysis to monosaccharides. Chemical hydrolysis via acid or alkali can also degrade carbohydrates, often under high temperature or acidity. Oxidative or lyase-mediated cleavage occurs for certain polysaccharides, such as pectin lyases.

In humans, saliva and pancreatic amylase begin starch digestion; gut microbes further degrade dietary fiber. In ecosystems, microbial degradation of plant polysaccharides recycles carbon and supports food webs. In industry, carbohydrate degradation is used to produce simple sugars for fermentation (biofuels and biochemicals), modify textures (enzymatic processing of starch), and improve pulp and textile processing.

Measurement and research focus on rates and products of degradation. Rates are monitored by quantifying released reducing sugars (DNS assay), high-performance liquid chromatography, or mass spectrometry. Advances include enzyme engineering to increase activity and thermostability, and pretreatment strategies to overcome recalcitrance of cellulose and hemicellulose.

Terminology and scope vary; carbohydratedegrading is not a formal discipline but a description of processes studied across biochemistry, microbiology, and chemical engineering.