ABSTRACT
Plants from the grass family (Poaceae or Graminae) are important sources of carbohydrates for the human diet and should make up the largest proportion of a daily diet. In photosynthesis, plants use energy from sunlight to synthesize carbohydrates from carbon dioxide and water, producing oxygen. Plant foods contain easily soluble sugars and two main types of polysaccharides: (1) starch, whose storage form is a glucose polymer bonded by alpha-linkages, and (2) nonstarch poly saccharides, which do not contain alpha-linkages and which make up dietary fiber.
