Monosaccharide structures

Carbohydrates are made up of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.They are the most abundant source of energy for all living organism.Some of the other functions of carbohydrates include participation in cell growth, it also acts as chief structural material for cell walls in plants.

In their basic form, carbohydrates are simple sugars.These sugars are classified according to the number of carbons.
No.of carbons          Category names          Examples.
       4                        Tetrose                      erythrose
       5                        pentose                      arabinose
       6                        hexose                       allose
       7                        heptose                      sedoheptulose


The structures of carbohydrates are shown below:

                                            
D-erythrose               D-rebose                      D-allose                                 D-sedoheptulose