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Carbohydrates

A major source of energy in our diet, made from carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, also known as saccharides.

Monosaccharides

The simplest carbohydrates, consisting of a chain of three to eight carbon atoms with hydroxyl groups.

Aldose

A monosaccharide that contains an aldehyde group.

Ketose

A monosaccharide that contains a ketone group.

Disaccharides

Carbohydrates consisting of two monosaccharides linked together through a glycosidic bond.

Polysaccharides

Complex carbohydrates formed from long chains of monosaccharides.

Glycosidic bond

The bond formed between two monosaccharides in a disaccharide.

Reducing sugars

Carbohydrates that can reduce other substances and provide an aldehyde group with adjacent hydroxyl.

Fischer projection

A two-dimensional representation of a molecule, showing the most oxidized group at the top.

Chiral molecules

Molecules that cannot be superimposed on their mirror images.

Achiral molecules

Molecules that have identical mirror images and can be superimposed.

Mutarotation

The change in the optical rotation as a result of the change in the equilibrium between different anomeric forms of a carbohydrate.

Haworth Structures

Cyclic forms of monosaccharides, produced from the reaction of a carbonyl group and a hydroxyl group.

Amylose

An unbranched form of starch composed of glucose units linked by α(1→4) bonds.

Amylopectin

A branched form of starch composed of glucose units linked by both α(1→4) bonds and α(1→6) bonds.

Cellulose

A polysaccharide made of glucose units, which forms the structural component of the cell wall in plants.