22.02: Monosaccharides
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The most useful carbohydrate classification scheme divides the carbohydrates into groups according to the number of individual simple sugar units. Monosaccharides contain a single unit; disaccharides contain two sugar units; and polysaccharides contain many sugar units as in polymers - most contain glucose as the monosaccharide unit.
Thumbnail Ball-and-stick model of the α-D-glucose molecule, C6H12O6. (Public Domain; Ben Mills).