What term describes the basic subunit of carbohydrates?

What term describes the basic subunit of carbohydrates?

• A. Monosaccharide
• B. Amino acid
• C. Nucleotide
• D. Fatty acid

Answer: (A)

The basic building block of carbohydrates is a monosaccharide. Carbohydrates are formed from simple sugar units that can link together through glycosidic bonds to make larger sugars like disaccharides (two sugars) and polysaccharides (many sugars). A monosaccharide is the simplest sugar, usually with 3–7 carbon atoms, and contains a carbonyl group along with several hydroxyl groups. They include common sugars such as glucose, fructose, and galactose. When monosaccharides join, they form larger carbohydrates, and when broken down, these larger carbs are reduced back to monosaccharides. The other options describe building blocks of other biomolecules: amino acids are the subunits of proteins, nucleotides are the units of nucleic acids, and fatty acids are components of lipids.

The basic building block of carbohydrates is a monosaccharide. Carbohydrates are formed from simple sugar units that can link together through glycosidic bonds to make larger sugars like disaccharides (two sugars) and polysaccharides (many sugars). A monosaccharide is the simplest sugar, usually with 3–7 carbon atoms, and contains a carbonyl group along with several hydroxyl groups. They include common sugars such as glucose, fructose, and galactose. When monosaccharides join, they form larger carbohydrates, and when broken down, these larger carbs are reduced back to monosaccharides.

The other options describe building blocks of other biomolecules: amino acids are the subunits of proteins, nucleotides are the units of nucleic acids, and fatty acids are components of lipids.