Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are primarily produced by plants and form a
very large group of naturally occurring organic compounds. Some common examples
of carbohydrates are cane sugar, glucose, starch, etc. Most of them have a
general formula, Cx (H2O)y, and were considered as hydrates of carbon
from where the name carbohydrate was derived.
Chemically,
the carbohydrates may be defined as optically
active polyhydroxy aldehydes or ketones or the
compounds which produce such units on hydrolysis.
Some of the carbohydrates, which are sweet in taste, are also called sugars.
Structure
of ketone
The
most common sugar, used in our homes is named as sucrose whereas the sugar
present in milk is known as lactose.
Carbohydrates are also called saccharides
(Greek: sakcharon means sugar).
Some of the daily used ketones
are given in the following example:
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