Monosaccharides

Monosaccharides are the most basic units of carbohydrates. They are the building blocks for more complex carbohydrates (disaccharides and polysaccharides) and are often called simple sugars because they are carbohydrates built up by one singular sugar molecule. Monosaccharides are divided into groups based on the number of carbon atoms in the molecule. Monosaccharides, similarly to disaccharides, are water soluble. Glucose, fructose and galactose are three of the most well-known monosaccharides. Monosaccharides are sugars and they are needed by humans as an energy source. With the presence of oxygen (O) in the blood, the monosaccharides are metabolised in human cells creating energy. Water (H2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2) are released as byproducts (Carbohydrate Metabolism from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2018.).

Glucose is classified as a hexose as it has six carbon atoms in its molecule. Five of these atoms create a hexagon-like structure alongside one oxygen atom. The sixth carbon is located in the molecule's CH2OH-group. It is found in a variety of fruits and vegetables.

Similarly to glucose, fructose is a hexose. However, the fructose molecule is structured like a pentagon. It has four carbon atoms as well as an oxygen atom in the base structure. The remaining two carbon atoms are in the molecule's two CH2OH-groups. Fructose, as the name implies, is found in many fruits.

Galactose is a hexose as well. It is less sweet than fructose and is found in various dairy products and avocados (Peter Kierulf. 2018.).

Galactose, fructose and galactose all share the same chemical formula (C6H12O6). However, their own unique structure gives them different sets of traits.

Sources:

Carbohydrate Metabolism from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2018. "Carbohydrate Metabolism". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbohydrate_metabolism. Accessed 23/10/18.

Peter Kierulf. 2018. "Galaktose". https://sml.snl.no/galaktose. Accessed 23/10/18.