Differentiate between Monosaccharides and Polysaccharides
Answers
Monosaccharides are the small sized compound of carbohydrates consisting of simple units of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen; Polysaccharides are the largely sized compound of carbohydrates consisting of many monosaccharides units linked by glycosidic bonds.
Molecular formula of monosaccharide is (CH2O)n, where n is the small number varying from 2-10 whereas Polysaccharides has Cx(H2O)y, where x is usually a big number between 200-2500
Monosaccharides cannot be further hydrolyzed as it is present in it’s the simplest form, while Polysaccharides cannot be further hydrolyzed as it contains 2 or more units of a monosaccharide, which can be further hydrolyzed into oligosaccharides, or monosaccharide.
A monosaccharide is colorless, sweet in tastes, crystalline appearance, the sweetness is completely absent in polysaccharide, though they are made from various units of monosaccharides, they can be homopolysaccharides or heteropolysaccharides.
Monosaccharides are soluble in water, but insoluble in nonpolar solvents; whereas polysaccharide are insoluble in water
Made up of the simplest unit of carbohydrates, which are carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen; Polysaccharides are made up of numerous (several thousand) monosaccharides units.
Monosaccharides are the chief energy source of energy, which provides around 4 calories (kilocalories) per gram; Polysaccharides are the structural component of cell walls and act as the energy reserves.