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Question 60

Complete hydrolysis of starch gives:

We recall first what starch really is. Starch is a natural polysaccharide made up of a very large number of $$\alpha$$-D-glucose units linked together through $$\alpha(1\rightarrow4)$$ glycosidic bonds, with an occasional $$\alpha(1\rightarrow6)$$ branching point. Mathematically, we can write its idealised formula as $$\left(C_6H_{10}O_5\right)_n$$ where the integer $$n$$ is very large. Each repeating unit $$C_6H_{10}O_5$$ corresponds to a single glucose residue that has already lost one molecule of water in the process of polymer formation.

Now, hydrolysis means “cleavage by addition of water”. In complete hydrolysis we shall keep adding water molecules until every single glycosidic linkage is broken. The general hydrolysis equation can therefore be written as

$$\left(C_6H_{10}O_5\right)_n + nH_2O \;\rightarrow\; nC_6H_{12}O_6$$

Here:

• On the left we have the polymer $$\left(C_6H_{10}O_5\right)_n$$.
• For every repeating unit we need exactly one water molecule $$H_2O$$ to break its bond with the next unit, so a total of $$n$$ water molecules are consumed.
• On the right we obtain $$n$$ molecules of $$C_6H_{12}O_6$$, and $$C_6H_{12}O_6$$ is the molecular formula of glucose.

No other monosaccharide such as fructose or galactose appears, because starch is built exclusively from glucose residues. Therefore, after the cleavage is complete, the reaction mixture contains glucose only; there are no equimolar mixtures with any other sugar.

Hence, the correct answer is Option D.

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