The general structure of glucose and many other aldohexoses was established by simple chemical reactions. Applying the terms defined above, glucose is a monosaccharide, an aldohexose (note that the function and size classifications are combined in one word) and a reducing sugar. The most common carbohydrate is glucose (C 6H 12O 6).
Carbohydrates have been given non-systematic names, although the suffix ose is generally used.Several classifications of carbohydrates have proven useful, and are outlined in the following table. Aside from the sugars and starches that meet this vital nutritional role, carbohydrates also serve as a structural material (cellulose), a component of the energy transport compound ATP, recognition sites on cell surfaces, and one of three essential components of DNA and RNA.Ĭarbohydrates are called saccharides or, if they are relatively small, sugars.
The carbohydrates are a major source of metabolic energy, both for plants and for animals that depend on plants for food. The formulas of many carbohydrates can be written as carbon hydrates, C n(H 2O) n, hence their name.
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