CARBOHYDRATES

Introduction

 The major components of living matter are formed from carbohydrates, proteins
and fats.
 Carbohydrates are one of the three major macronutrients in our diet representing a
wide group of substances which include the sugars, starches, glycogen, gums and
celluloses.
 Carbohydrates are known as the important energy source for living things.
 They are primarily produced by plants by the process of photosynthesis, an
endothermic reaction in which condensation of carbon dioxide takes place and which
requires light energy and the pigment chlorophyll.
 The chemical component of carbohydrates is carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.
 They have general molecular formulas that make them appear to be hydrates of
carbon, Cn(H2O)n, and from where the name carbohydrates comes (Carbon +
water).
 Plant biomass is made up of three fourths of carbohydrates but in animal body it is
present in small quantities. In animal it is stored in the form of glycogen, sugar and
their derivatives.
 Carbohydrates are polyhydroxy aldehydes or ketones.

Classification
The carbohydrates are sometimes referred to as the saccharides. The word
saccharides comes from the Greek word “sakcharon” meaning sugar. Carbohydrates
are classified into three main classes, monosaccharides, disaccharides and
polysaccharides.
Sugars
sugars are sweet crystalline substances that are soluble in water. Usually the short
chain formed of
simple sugars are sweet in taste but longer chain of sugar or polysaccharides are
usually tastless. Sugars are further classified on the basis of their behavior on
hydrolysis.

Monosaccharides
The simplest form of carbohydrates is the monosaccharide. 'Mono' means 'one' and
'saccharide' means 'sugar'. Monosaccharides are polyhydroxy aldehyde or ketone that
cannot be hydrolyzed further to give simpler sugar eg. Glucose, fructose and
galactose . They may again be classified on the basis of the nature of carbonyl group.
• Polyhydroxy aldehydes are called aldoses. Example: Glucose

• Polyhydroxy ketones are called ketoses. Example: Fructose

The aldoses and ketoses are further divided based on the number of carbons
present in their molecules, as trioses, tetroses, pentoses, hexoses etc. They are
referred to as aldotrioses, aldotetroses, aldopentoses, aldohexoses, ketohexoses etc.
Oligosaccharides
Carbohydrates that produce two to ten monosaccharide units during the hydrolysis
are called oligosaccharides. They can be further classified based on the number of
monosaccharide units formed on hydrolysis.
Disaccharides: They give two monosaccharide units on hydrolysis, which may be
the same or different. For example, sucrose on hydrolysis gives one molecule each
of glucose and fructose, whereas maltose gives two molecules of glucose.

Trisaccharides: These carbohydrates yield three molecules of monosaccharides

units on hydrolysis.

Polysaccharides
These carbohydrates give a large number of monosaccharide units on hydrolysis.
These monosaccharide units are joined together by oxide bridges. These linkages
are called glycosidic linkages. The common and widely distributed
polysaccharides correspond to the general formula (C6H10O5)n. Polysaccharides
are not sweet in taste, so they are called non-sugars. Some common examples are
starch, cellulose, glycogen, etc.