Carbohydrates are defined chemically as aldehyde or ketone derivatives of polyhydroxy alcohols or compounds which yield these derivatives on hydrolysis. “Carbohydrate" means hydrated carbon, which indicates the relative proportion of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms in a carbohydrate. For example glucose has a molecular formula C6H12O6 .It also indicates that these are the only three elements in this group of natural compound. However, like the complex protein, some carbohydrate also may have amino group.
Carbohydrates also have two major functions in living organisms:
- they provide energy needed for life processes.
- Some are parts of structural unit of cell and tissue especially in plant.
Simple carbohydrates are glucose, fructose, (both occur in fruits), lactose (occur in milk) and sucrose (cane sugar). Starch (rice, potato, maize) is a high molecular weight carbohydrate.
Carbohydrates are classified on the basis of units of sugar present in the molecule as follows-
- monosaccharide
- disaccharides
- oligosaccharides
- polysaccharides.
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