Question

Describe the three categories into which carbohydrates can be classified.

Answer 1

We need to know that carbohydrates are a class of sugar. It can be any of various neutral compounds of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen (such as sugars, starches, and celluloses) most of which are formed by green plants and which constitute a major class of animal foods.

Complete answer:
We have to remember that carbohydrates can be classified into three classes: monosaccharide, oligosaccharide and polysaccharide. The three categories into which carbohydrates can be classified are Monosaccharide: these carbohydrates cannot undergo hydrolysis to yield simpler polyhydroxy aldehyde or ketone units. For example: glucose, ribose. Oligosaccharides: these carbohydrates can undergo hydrolysis to give $2 - 10$ monosaccharide carbohydrates. For example: sucrose, maltose. Polysaccharides: these carbohydrates can undergo hydrolysis to give a large number of monosaccharide carbohydrates. For example: starch, glycogen. Carbohydrates are classified into two categories: simple and complex. Simple carbohydrates also are found in natural sugars. Fruit, milk and vegetables contain natural sugars. Honey is a natural sugar as well. People eat natural sugar in its original form. Simple carbohydrates are easier to handle because they are less (or simpler) complex. And the other category is complex carbohydrates which are often single units (monosaccharide), which are bound together. The oligosaccharides contain two to ten simple units of sugar. Polysaccharides contain hundreds and thousands of monosaccharide which are related. Complex carbohydrates have fairly long lasting energy.

Note:
We have to remember that glucose is one of the most common monosaccharide. Glucose is a sugar having a molecular formula ${C_6}{H_{12}}{O_6}$. Glucose is an aldohexose since it has an aldehydic group whereas fructose is a ketohexose since it has a keto group present in it.