What is the structures of carbohydrates?

Answered below

Explanation:

Carbohydrates are biomolecules that contain hydrogen, carbon and oxygen. They are generally structured as a chain of carbons with hydroxyl groups, and ketones or aldehydes. The subtypes include;

Monosaccharides

Disaccharides

Polysaccharides

Monosaccharides are generally represented by the formula CH2On. They are classified based on the number of carbon atoms they have. Example, hexoses have 6 carbon atoms, pentose, 5, diose, 2 etc. They are also classified based on whether they have ketones or aldehydes. Examples of monosaccharides are glucose and fructose.

Disaccharides are formed when two monosaccharides form glycosidic bond through a dehydration reaction. Examples of disaccharides include; maltose, lactose, and sucrose which is made up of glucose and fructose. An oligosaccharide is made up of 2-10 monosaccharides and are often components of glycoproteins or glycolipids.

Polysaccharides, also called complex carbohydrates are long-chain carbohydrates made of repeated monosaccharides linked by glycosidic bonds. Examples are starches and glycogen.