carbohydrates

as we hear the word carbohydrates, we oftentimes remember an energizing food like rice. it is basic. but in advance biology, it is different. carbohydrates are compounds that are composed of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms linked together to form monosaccharides or “sweet carbon.” think of an energizing food, and then observe them under different tests, you’ll see a pattern of different elements bonded together. They supply heat energy into the body. These carbohydrates are also known as the simple sugar and this simple sugar have equal number of carbons and oxygens while twice as many hydrogen atoms. They are considered as the most abundant of four major classes of biomolecules (carbos, proteins, amino acids and lipids). To know if an element is a carbo, you can notice the suffix –ose. There are three groups of carbohydrates: monosaccharides, disaccharides, and oligosaccharides.

Monosaccharides are the simple sugars. It is because of the word “mono” which means “one”. but how simple it is called, the complicated it is. Examples of monosaccharides are glucose or grape sugar, galactose or milk sugar, and fructose or fruit sugar.

Next group is the disaccharides. They are two joined monosaccharides. They are formed by losing hydrogen atom from one and a hydroxyl group from the other, or the dehydration reaction.Examples of these are sucrose, maltose and lactose.

Last but not the least is the polysaccharides or the oligosaccharides. they are composed of a polysaccharide and a monosaccharide. **i admit. i really don't get this part. i have no examples but i'm trying my best to find one. :)