CHEMISTRY OF DIFFERENT FOOD GROUPS:
CARBOHYDRATES
GENERAL OVERVIEW
General characteristics of carbohydrates/sugars
onosaccharides
Aldoses and Ketoses
Linear and ring formation in aldoses and ketoses
saccharides
The O-glycosidic bond
Examples of disaccharides
Polysaccharides
Structural polysaccharides, eg. Cellulose, Chitin
Storage polysaccharides, eg. Starch and Glycogen
Glycosaminoglyccans
Reactions of carbohydrates
mportant carbohydrates in nature
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF CARBOHYDRATES/SUGARS
3
They are a class of nutrients
They are the most abundant of macronutrients
Basic units are monosaccharides
Polymeric in nature
Contain functional group of aldehydes or ketones in addition to the alcohol
functional group
H
O
R – C = O
R – C – R
Aldehyde functional group Ketone functional group
They are poly alcohols
They carry out reactions of alcohols and aldehydes or ketones
They are an energy source to living organisms

