carbohydrates

Carbohydrate?

Carbohydrates are organic compounds that can be broken up to produce energy. The most basic building block in carbohydrates is a sugar consisting of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.

The compounds differ in the links formed between those molecules. For example, a complex carbohydrate can have a number of different sugar molecules linked together.

A simple carbohydrate, on the other hand, will have a small number of these molecules linked together. Energy is released when these links, in either simple or complex carbohydrates, are broken. 

Bread

In bread carbohydrates is abundantly found which is also the main source of energy in a diet. During digestion, a series of enzymatic reactions break down the complex carbohydrates in bread into simple carbohydrates that are easily absorbed in the small intestine. Complex carbohydrates require enzymes such as salivary amylase, pancreatic amylase and maltose for digestion.

Complex carbohydrates include starch and fiber, which are polysaccharides made up of long chains of glucose units bonded together.

Carbohydrates consist of the elements carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) with a ratio of hydrogen twice that of carbon and oxygen

chemical structure of starch

simple structure of glucose and starch

In their basic form, carbohydrates are simple sugars or monosaccharides. These simple sugars can combine with each other to form more complex carbohydrates. 

The combination of two simple sugars is a disaccharide. 

Carbohydrates consisting of two to ten simple sugars are called oligosaccharides, and those with a larger number are called polysaccharides.