The building blocks of carbohydrates are monosaccharides , which are simple sugar molecules. Examples of monosaccharides include glucose, fructose, and galactose. These monosaccharides serve as the fundamental units that combine to form more complex carbohydrates such as disaccharides (two monosaccharides linked) and polysaccharides (long chains of monosaccharides)
. Carbohydrates are organic molecules composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, generally with the empirical formula (CH2O)n(CH_2O)_n(CH2O)n. Monosaccharides can exist in different structural forms, including open-chain and ring structures, and are classified as either aldoses or ketoses depending on their functional groups
. In summary:
- Monosaccharides are the simplest carbohydrates and the basic building blocks.
- They link together to form disaccharides and polysaccharides, which serve various biological roles such as energy storage and structural support
