Disaccharide

Disaccharides

• Disaccharides consist of two monosaccharides joined by

an O-glycosidic bond.

• Disaccharides can be classified into:

1. Homodisaccharides : consist of the same two
monosaccharide units.
2. Heterodisaccharide consist of two different
monosaccharide units.
 Another classification of disaccharides :

1- Reducing disaccharide
• Presence of free aldehyde or ketone group (a free reducing
carbonyl group ) is the cause of reducing property .

2- Non –Reducing disaccharide

• All disaccharides with free aldehyde or ketone group are
reducing sugars, except (sucrose ,trehalose) .

Condensation VS. Hydrolysis

A condensation reaction means that two monosaccharide

molecules can bind together with releasing a water molecule
to form a disaccharide.

A glycosidic bond can also be broken down by hydrolysis(

addition of water ) to form two monosaccharide units .
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Homodisaccharides

1-Maltose
• Maltose consists of two molecules of glucose that are
linked by an α-(1,4) glycosidic bond. It is produced from
starch by the action of amylase enzyme.

• Maltose is converted to two molecules of glucose by

the enzyme maltase, which hydrolyses the glycosidic
bond .
2-Isomaltose:
Isomaltose is a disaccharide similar to maltose, but the
linkage is α-(1-6)-linkage instead of the α-(1-4)-linkage.

3-Cellobiose:

Cellobiose consists of two molecules of glucose that are

linked by a β–(1,4′) glycosidic bond. Cellobiose thus
differs from maltose by its configuration at the glycosidic
bond. It is produced from cellulose by the action of
cellobiase enzyme.
4-Trehalose

• Trehalose, in which 2 glucose molecules are linked by α (1→1)

linkage, is also a nonreducing disaccharide.

Heterodisaccharides

1-Lactose :( milk sugar)

• lactose is a combination of D-galactose and D-glucose.
These two sugars combine via a beta 1,4-glycodisic
linkage.
 2-Sucrose : (cane sugar or table sugar)

• The sucrose disaccharide is a combination

between glucose and fructose.
• These two sugars combine via a bond called the
alpha 1,2-glycosidic bond.
Hydrolysis of disaccharide

The human body is unable to metabolize disaccharide

directly from the diet because the molecules are too large
to pass through the cell membranes of the intestinal wall.
Therefore, an ingested disaccharide must first be broken
down by hydrolysis into its two constituent monosaccharide

• Glycosidase: Enzymes that hydrolyse glycosidic bonds

(maltase, lactase, sucrase).
Oligosaccharide
Oligosaccharides are condensation products of three to ten
monosaccharides; maltotriose is an example