1. Carbohydrate presentation

1.1 Definition, classification and names

The term carbohydrates defines polyalcohols that contain either an aldehyde function (CHO) or a ketone function (CO). The majority of carbohydrates have a gross formula of the type (CH ₂ O) _n with $n⩾3$ .

Carbohydrates are generally classified according to their degree of polymerization (see table 1 ), but there are several different classifications. We have chosen the most recent, published by ILSI Europe (International Life Science...