Classification of Carbohydrate

1. Monosaccharides:

• Simple form of sugar and can’t be hydrolyzed into smaller units.

1. Trioses: Has 3 carbon atoms. Eg: Glycerol aldehyde, dihydroxy acetone.
2. Tetrose: Have 4 carbon atoms. Eh: Erythrose.
3. Pentose: Having 5 carbon atoms.

i. Arbinose: Component of hemicelluloses found in silage as a result of hydrolysis.

ii. Xylose: Forms the main chain of grass hemicelluloses and xylose along with arabinose.

iii. Ribose: Present in all living cells as constitute RNA and component of several vitamins and co-enzymes.

4. Hexoses:

I. Glucose: Sugar occurs in free plants fruits, honey, and oilier body fluid and is soluble in water.

ii. Fructose: Known as fruit sugar occurring in green leaves, fruit, and honey.

iii. Mannose: Doesn’t occur free in nature, found in polymerized form as mannose.

iv. Galactose: Constituent of disaccharide lactose which occurs in milk and components of gum, mucilage, pigment, etc, and doesn’t exist freely in nature.

2. Oligosaccharide: Most frequently occurring CHO and produces two molecules of simple sugar after hydrolysis.

1. Sucrose: Found in carrots, fruit,s, and beet sugar.
2. Lactose: Also known as milk sugar is not as soluble as sucrose and is less sweet. Hydrolysis produces one molecule of glucose and one molecule of galactose.
3. Maltose: Produced from starch during the germination of barley and on hydrolysis produces two molecules of glucose.
4. Cellobiose: This is the repeating unit of cellulose and is less soluble and less sweet.
5. Trehalose: These are disaccharides present in fungi and seaweeds.
6. Raffinose: This is a trisaccharide and on hydrolysis produces glucose, fructose, and galactose.
7. Stachyose: Occurs in the seed of legumes, on hydrolysis produces two molecules of galactose, one molecule of glucose, and one molecule of fructose.

3. Polysaccharide:

1. Starch: After hydrolysis change to dextrin, maltose, and finally to glucose.
2. Glycogen: This is the main CHO storage product in the animal body and plays an important role in energy metabolism.
3. Dextrin: Intermediate product of starch and glucose.
4. Cellulose: Occurs in nearly pure form in cotton and is less digested in non-ruminants but digested in ruminants by microorganisms and the end product is VFA-like acetic propionic and butyric.
5. HemicellulosesThese are water-insoluble and less resistant chemical agents than cellulose, they form the leafy and woody structures of plants.
6. Pectin: Found in the peel of citrus, and sugar beet pulp and used as jam making.
7. Chitin: Major constituent of the exoskeleton of insects.
8. Inulin: Storage form of CHO and after hydrolysis produces fructose.
9. Lignin: Closely associated with cellulose and is indigestible by animals.