Introduction

Carbohydrates are one of the four major classes of biomolecules along with proteins, nucleic acids, and lipids. Carbohydrates are compounds that contain at least three carbon atoms, a number of hydroxyl groups, and usually an aldehyde or ketone group. They may contain phosphate, amino, or sulfate groups. First, carbohydrates serve as energy stores, fuels, and metabolic intermediates. Second, ribose and deoxyribose sugars form part of the structural framework of RNA and DNA. Third, polysaccharides are structural elements in the cell walls of bacteria and plants.

Carbohydrates are also known as saccharides since many of those of relatively small molecular weight have a sweet taste, although this is not true of those with large molecules. They are widely distributed molecules in both plant and animal tissues. They are indispensable for living organisms, serving as skeletal structures in plants and also in insects and crustaceans. They also occur as food reserves in the storage organs of plants and in the liver and muscles of animals. In addition, they are an important source of energy required for the various metabolic activities of living organisms; the energy being derived as a result of their oxidation. They also serve to lubricate skeletal joints, to provide adhesion between cells and to confer biological specificity on the surface of animal calls.

Glucose is the most important carbohydrate; most dietary carbohydrate is absorbed into the bloodstream as glucose, and other sugars are converted into glucose in the liver. Glucose is the major metabolic fuel of mammals (except ruminants) and a universal fuel of the fetus. It is
the precursor for synthesis of all the other carbohydrates in the body, including glycogen for storage; ribose and deoxyribose in nucleic acids; and galactose in lactose of milk, in glycolipids, and in combination with protein in glycoproteins and proteoglycans. Diseases associated with carbohydrate metabolism include diabetes mellitus, galactosemia, glycogen storage diseases, and lactose intolerance.

Read more about the Functions of Carbohydrates

Classification of Carbohydrates

1. Monosaccharides

Monosaccharides are colorless, crystalline solids that are freely soluble in water but insoluble in nonpolar solvents. Most have a sweet taste. The backbones of common monosaccharides are unbranched carbon chains in which all the carbon atoms are linked by single bonds. In this open-chain form, one of the carbon atoms is double-bonded to an oxygen atom to form a carbonyl group; each of the other carbon atoms has a hydroxyl group. If the carbonyl group is at an end of the carbon chain (that is, in an aldehyde group) the monosaccharide is an aldose; if the carbonyl group is at any other position (in a ketone group) the monosaccharide is a ketose. The simplest monosaccharides are the two three-carbon trioses: glyceraldehyde, an aldotriose, and dihydroxyacetone, a ketotriose.

Monosaccharides with four, five, six, and seven carbon atoms in their backbones are called, respectively, tetroses, pentoses, hexoses, and heptoses. There are aldoses and ketoses of each of these chain lengths: aldotetroses and ketotetroses, aldopentoses and ketopentoses,
and so on. The hexoses, which include the aldohexose D-glucose and the ketohexose D-fructose, are the most common monosaccharides in nature—the products of photosynthesis, and key intermediates in the central energy-yielding reaction sequence in most organisms. The aldopentoses D-ribose and 2-deoxy-D-ribose are components of nucleotides and nucleic acids. (Figure Below)

2. Disaccharides

Disaccharides (such as maltose, lactose, and sucrose) consist of two monosaccharides joined covalently by an O-glycosidic bond, which is formed when a hydroxyl group of one sugar molecule, typically cyclic, reacts with the anomeric carbon of the other. This reaction represents the formation of an acetal from a hemiacetal (such as glucopyranose) and an alcohol (a hydroxyl group of the second sugar molecule), and the resulting compound is called a glycoside.

Glycosidic bonds are readily hydrolyzed by acid but resist cleavage by base. Thus disaccharides can be hydrolyzed to yield their free monosaccharide components by boiling with dilute acid. N-glycosyl bonds join the anomeric carbon of a sugar to a nitrogen atom in glycoproteins and nucleotides.

3. Oligosaccharides

These are compound sugars that yield 2 to 10 molecules of the same or different monosaccharides on hydrolysis. Accordingly, an oligosaccharide yielding 2 molecules of monosaccharide on hydrolysis is designated as a dissaccharide, and the one yielding 3 molecules of monosaccharide as a trisaccharide and so on. The general formula of disaccharides is:

Cn(H2O)n – 1 and that of trisaccharides is Cn(H2O)n – 2 and so on.

A few examples are :
Disaccharides – Sucrose, Lactose, Maltose, Cellobiose, Trehalose, Gentiobiose, Melibiose
Trisaccharides – Rhamninose, Gentianose, Raffinose (= Melitose), Rabinose, Melezitose
Tetrasaccharides – Stachyose, Scorodose
Pentasaccharide – Verbascose

The molecular composition of the 3 legume oligosaccharides (viz., raffinose, stachyose and verbascose) is shown below :
α-Galactose (1–6) + α-Glucose (1–2) + β-Fructose = Raffinose
α-Galactose (1–6) + α-Galactose (1–6) + α-Glucose (1–2) + β-Fructose = Stachyose
α-Galactose (1–6) + α-Galactose (1–6) + α-Galactose (1–6) + α-Glucose (1–2) + β-Fructose = Verbascose

4. Polysaccharides

These are also compound sugars and yield more than 10 molecules of monosaccharides on hydrolysis. These may be further classified depending on whether the monosaccharide molecules produced as a result of the hydrolysis of polysaccharides are of the same type (homopolysaccharides) or of different types (heteropolysaccharides).

Their general formula is (C6H10O5)x.

Some common examples are :
Homopolysaccharides –Starch, Glycogen, Inulin, Cellulose, Pectin, Chitin
Heteropolysaccharides – “Specific soluble sugar” of pneumococcus type III, Hyaluronic acid, Chondrotin

Frequently Asked Questions

What are carbohydrates?

These are the biological compounds that can be defined as hydrated carbon compounds. They are classified into monosaccharides, disaccharides, and polysaccharides. 

What are 4 examples of carbohydrates?

These include glucose, fructose, lactose, and cellulose. 

What are the 4 functions of carbohydrates?

They act as a source of energy. They are involved in cell signaling. They act as structural components in the cell. They prevent protein breakdown for energy.

What are polysaccharides?

Polysaccharides are the polymers of carbohydrates. They are large molecules consisting of long chains of molecules that are made by combining hundreds or thousands of carbohydrate molecules.