Classification of Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are classified on the basis of their behavior on hydrolysis. They are classified into monosaccharides, oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides.

1. Monosaccharides: these are the carbohydrates that cannot be hydrolyzed further in to simpler polyhydroxy aldehydes or ketones. There are 20 known naturally occurring monosaccharides. They include glucose, fructose, ribose etc.
2. Oligosaccharides: These carbohydrates when hydrolyzed produce two to ten monosaccharide units. The produced monosaccharides can be alike or different. For example, the sucrose when hydrolyzed convert into two different molecules namely, glucose and fructose while maltose converts into two alike units of glucose. On the basis of number of monosaccharides yielded, the oligosaccharides are further classified into disaccharides, trisaccharides, tetrasaccharides etc. Among these the disaccharides are most common.
3. Polysaccharides: These carbohydrates when hydrolyzed yields a large number of monosaccharides. It includes starch, cellulose, glycogen, gums etc. These are not sweet in taste and hence are called as non-sugars.

Carbohydrates are also classified on the basis of whether they reduce Tollen’s reagent or Fehling’s solution.

1. Reducing Sugars: All the carbohydrates that reduce Tollen’s reagent or Fehling’s solution are called as Reducing Sugars. All monosaccharides are reducing sugars.
2. Non-reducing Sugars: All the carbohydrates that does not reduce Tollen’s reagent or Fehling’s solution are called as non-reducing Sugars.

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