Organic food contains important organic molecules like carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids. Carbohydrates include sugars like monosaccharides, disaccharides, and polysaccharides. Proteins are made of amino acids linked through peptide bonds. Lipids encompass fats, phospholipids, waxes, and steroids. Nucleic acids are made of nucleotides containing nitrogenous bases, pentose sugars, and phosphate groups. Organic foods tend to have higher antioxidant levels than conventionally grown foods due to being grown without most synthetic pesticides and fertilizers.

1. MEET THE ORGANIC MOLECULES IN
ORGANIC FOODS
Article written and published
By
www.worldofchemicals.com

2. INTRODUCTION
 We all have to eat! But how much do we really
know about the chemistry of food?
 While chemistry has been a great benefit to us,
sometimes in the form of chemical pesticides and
fertilizers causing health hazards.
 One step towards the solution is growing more
organic food / greener food.
 After knowing what organic food is, we should know
about
 Food chemistry and
 Organic molecules

3. ORGANIC FOOD
 Organic food, defined by how it cannot be made
rather than how it can be made, must be produced
without the use of sewer-sludge fertilizers, most
synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, genetic
engineering (biotechnology), growth hormones,
irradiation and antibiotics.
 "Organic" does not mean "natural." There is no
legal definition as to what constitutes a "natural"
food. However, the food industry uses the term
"natural" to indicate that a food has been minimally
processed and is preservative-free.

4. BRIEF HISTORY ON ORGANIC FOOD
 India started the 'Green Revolution' in the 1960s. During this
time, the amount of food that could be grown in every acre of
land increased manifold through the use of pesticides and
fertilizers.
 However, these have many dangerous side-effects. Chemical
pesticides not only kill harmful insects like weevils and borers,
but also beneficial insects like butterflies and bees.
 Many plants depend on these insects for their pollination and
seed dispersal. These pesticides do not break down, but
accumulate in the plants. This can lead to a dangerous build up
that causes harmful health effects in people who eat these
foods. Fertilizers have a similar effect.
 They were originally used to provide nutrients to crop plants that
were not present in enough quantities in the soil. However, over
time fertilizers lead to the quality of the soil becoming worse, till
it is unable to support agriculture

5. HOW ORGANIC FOOD DIFFER ?
 Organic food differs from conventionally produced food
simply in the way it is grown, handled and processed.
 A recently published report indicates that organic food is
less likely to contain pesticide residues than
conventional food (13 percent of organic produce
samples versus 71 percent of conventional produce
samples contained a pesticide residue when long-banned
persistent pesticides were excluded).
 Yet, according to the National Research Council, the
traces of pesticides left on conventionally grown
products are unlikely to cause an increased cancer risk.
Also, if fruits and vegetables are properly washed, most
of the chemicals can be removed.

6. ORGANIC FOOD GROWTH SURVEY
 A 2014 meta-analysis of 343 studies, found that
organically grown crops had higher concentrations
of antioxidants, containing 17%
more antioxidants overall compared to
conventionally grown crops. Concentrations of
phenolic acids, flavanones, stilbenes, flavones,
flavonols, and anthocyanins were particularly
elevated, with flavanones being 69% higher.
 A 2012 survey of the scientific literature
reported ascorbic acid (Vitamin C), beta-carotene
(a precursor for Vitamin A), and alpha-tocopherol (a
form of Vitamin E) content; milk studies reported on
beta-carotene and alpha-tocopherol levels in
organic food.

7. CHEMISTRY OF ORGANIC FOOD
 Food chemistry is the study of chemical processes
and interactions of all biological and non-biological
components of foods.
 It is similar to biochemistry in its main components
such as carbohydrates, lipids, and protein, but it
also includes areas such as water, vitamins,
minerals,enzymes, food additives, flavors, and
colors.
 This discipline also encompasses how products
change under certain food processing techniques
and ways either to enhance or to prevent them from
happening.

8. CHEMISTRY OF ORGANIC FOOD
 Basic food chemistry deals with the organic molecules.
Organic molecules are nothing but the chemicals of life,
compounds that are composed of more than one type of
element. Organic molecules are found in, and are
produced by living organisms.
 The feature that distinguishes an organic molecule from
inorganic molecule is that the organic molecules contain
carbon-hydrogen bonds whereas the inorganic
molecules do not.
 The four major classes of organic molecules include
carbohydrates, proteins, lipids and nucleic acids.
 Carbohydrates molecules contain carbon hydrates in a
ratio of one carbon molecule to one water molecule
(CH2O).

9. THE FOUR MAJOR CLASSES OF ORGANIC
MOLECULES

10. THERE ARE DIFFERENT TYPES OF
CARBOHYDRATES AS WELL. THIS INCLUDES
 Saccharide
 Monosaccharides
 Polysaccharides
 The word saccharide is another word for carbohydrate,
because it can be preceded with a prefix that indicates
the size of the molecule (mono-, di-, tri- poly-).
 Monosaccharides are the simplest form of molecules as
they contain single sugars and have just one molecule.
Disaccharides are double sugars and are a combination
of two monosaccharides. Polysaccharides are polymers
and are composed of several sugars. They can be same
monomer (many of same monosaccharide) or mixture of
monomers.

11. THERE ARE DIFFERENT TYPES OF
CARBOHYDRATES

12. PROTEINS
 Proteins are polymers, and their building blocks are amino
acids. Each amino acid contains
 Base amino group (-NH2)
 Acidic carboxyl group (-COOH)
 Hydrogen atom
 All of the above are attached to same carbon atom (the α-
carbon or alpha carbon). A fourth bond attaches an alpha
carbon to a side group that varies among different amino
acids. These side groups are important, as they affect the way
the protein's amino acids interact with one another, and how a
protein interacts with other molecules. Alhough there are
hundreds of different amino acids, most organisms use only 21
to build proteins.
 Peptide bonds are the covalent bonds which link amino acids
into chains and they look like the beads on a necklace. A
dipeptide is two amino acids that are linked together and a
polypeptide is the one that is more than two.

13. PROTEINS

14. LIPIDS
 Lipids are molecules that are hydrophobic and are
not attracted to water because the non-polar
covalent bonds that link carbon and hydrogen are
not attracted to the polar bonds of water. The four
major groups of lipids include
 Fats
 Phospholipids
 Waxes
 Steroids

15. ORGANIC FOOD ALSO CONTAINS
 Fats
 Fats and oils are made from two kinds of molecules -
glycerol which is a type of alcohol and three fatty acids which are
also known as triglycerides.
 Phospholipids
 The structure of this type of lipid includes a hydrophobic or a
"water hating," hydrocarbon tails and hydrophilic or a water loving
phosphate groups on the end. This means that phospholipids are
soluble in both water and oil.
 Our body cell membranes are made mostly of phospholipids that
are arranged in a double layer with the tails from both layers
facing inward and the heads facing outward. This is called as
lipid bilayer.
 Waxes
 Waxes are esters of alcohol which are insoluble in water and are
difficult to break down. Wax forms protective and waterproof
layers on some plants, bacteria, animal fur and integuments of
insects.

16. ORGANIC FOOD ALSO CONTAINS CONT ..
 Steroids
 Steroids form the central core of a cholesterol
molecule which consists of four fused rings and is
shared by all steroids. Cholesterol is a precursor to
our sex hormones and Vitamin D.
 Our cell membranes contain a lot of cholesterol
which helps in keeping the membrane flexible and
fluid even when our cells are exposed to cooler
temperatures.

17. NUCLEIC ACIDS AND NUCLEOTIDES
 Nucleic acids are polymers that are made up of nucleotide
monomers. Each monomer of nucleic acid is a nucleotide and
consists of three portions; pentose sugar, one or more
phosphate groups and one of five cyclic nitrogenous bases.
 Nucleotides are linked by covalent bonds between phosphate
of one nucleotide and sugar of next, thereby forming a
phosphate-sugar backbone. The nitrogenous bases extend
from it like teeth of a comb.
 Hydrogen bonds form between specific bases of two nucleic
acid chains, forming a stable, double-stranded DNA molecule.
Hydrogen bonding twists the phosphate-deoxyribose
backbones into a helix giving it a typical DNA double helix.
 Adenosine 5'-triphosphate or ATP, also known as the energy
transfer molecule is a multifunctional nucleotide and is
important for the "molecular currency" of intracellular energy
transfer. ATP transports chemical energy within cells for
metabolism.

18. REFERENCE
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