What are monosaccharides ?
Monosaccharides are carbohydrates which cannot be hydrolysed to smaller molecules. Their general formula is (CH2O)n where n = 3 – 7. These are of two types. Those which contain an aldehyde (–CHO) group are called aldoses and those which contain a keto (C = O) group are called ketoses. They are further classified as trioses, tetroses, pentoses, hexoses and heptoses according as they contain 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 carbon atoms respectively. For example,
