Monosaccharide vs. Polysaccharide
The main difference between Monosaccharide and Polysaccharide is that Monosaccharide is a simple carbohydrate with a single sugar unit whereas Polysaccharides are carbohydrates made up of a large number of monosaccharides.
Key Differences
Monosaccharides are sweet in taste; on the other hand, polysaccharides are tasteless.
Monosaccharides are soluble in water, but they are not soluble in nonpolar solvents whereas polysaccharides are insoluble in water.
Cn(H2O)n, is the molecular formula of monosaccharide where n is the small number range from 2-10 conversely, Cx(H2O)y is the molecular formula of polysaccharide where x is usually a big number range between 200-2500.
Monosaccharide cannot be hydrolysed on the flip side; polysaccharide can be further hydrolysed into monosaccharides.
Monosaccharides have simple, linear and unbranched structure but polysaccharides have a complex and branched structure.
Monosaccharides are composed of a single monomer while polysaccharides are made up of a large number of monomers.
Monosaccharides are made up of bonding between carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen whereas polysaccharides are made up of a large number of monosaccharide units.
Monosaccharides are the simplest carbohydrates that are made up of single polyhydroxy aldehyde or ketone unit while polysaccharides consist of 20 or more than twenty such units attached by a glycosidic bond.
Monosaccharides are reducing sugars whereas polysaccharides are non reducing sugars.
Monosaccharides have a single ring structure. Conversely, polysaccharides have several ring structures.
Monosaccharides are the main source of energy and provide about four calories of energy per gram while polysaccharides act as an energy reservoir and a structural component of the cell wall.
Glucose is an example of a monosaccharide whereas cellulose is an example of polysaccharides.
Comparison Chart
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Simple sugars that are made up of a single sugar unit are known as monosaccharides.
Large carbohydrates that are made up of a large number of sugar units are known as polysaccharides.
Solubility
They are soluble in water but insoluble in nonpolar solvents.
Polysaccharides are insoluble in water.
Taste
They are sweet.
They are tasteless.
Molecular Formula
Cn(H2O)n, is the molecular formula of monosaccharide where n is the small number range from 2-10.
Cx(H2O)y is the molecular formula of polysaccharide where x is usually a big number range between 200-2500.
Hydrolysation
Monosaccharide cannot be hydrolyzed.
The polysaccharide can be further hydrolyzed.
Type of Sugar
Monosaccharides are reducing sugars.
Polysaccharides are non reducing sugars.
No. of Monomers
It is made up of a single monomer.
Polysaccharides are made up of a large number of monomers.
Characters
They have simple, linear and unbranched structure.
They have a complex and branched structure.
Structure
They have a single ring structure.
They have several ring structures
Composition
They are made up of bonding between carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen.
They are made up of a large number of monosaccharide units.
Role
Monosaccharides are the main source of energy and provide about four calories of energy per gram.
Polysaccharides act as an energy reservoir and a structural component of the cell wall.
Examples
Glucose is an example of a monosaccharide.
Cellulose is an example of polysaccharides.
Monosaccharide and Polysaccharide Definitions
Monosaccharide
Any of several carbohydrates, such as tetroses, pentoses, and hexoses, that cannot be broken down to simpler sugars by hydrolysis. Also called simple sugar.
Polysaccharide
Any of a class of carbohydrates, such as starch and cellulose, consisting of a number of monosaccharides joined by glycosidic bonds.
Monosaccharide
(carbohydrate) A simple sugar such as glucose, fructose or deoxyribose that has a single ring
Polysaccharide
(carbohydrate) A polymer made of many saccharide units linked by glycosidic bonds.
Cellulose, starches, and complex carbohydrates, such as glycogen, are common polysaccharides in biology.
Monosaccharide
A simple sugar; any of a number of sugars (including the trioses, tetroses, pentoses, hexoses, etc.), not decomposable into simpler sugars by hydrolysis. Specif., as used by some, a hexose. The monosaccharides are all open-chain compounds containing hydroxyl groups and either an aldehyde group or a ketone group.
Polysaccharide
Any of a class of carbohydrates whose molecules contain chains of monosaccharide molecules
Monosaccharide
A sugar (like sucrose or fructose) that does not hydrolyse to give other sugars; the simplest group of carbohydrates
Monosaccharide vs. Polysaccharide
Carbohydrates are the basic components of everyone’s diet. It provides structure and energy to living things. They are composed of carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O). Based on several sugar units in carbohydrate, they are divided into monosaccharides, oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides, etc. Monosaccharides are the simplest carbohydrates that are made up of single polyhydroxy aldehyde or ketone unit while polysaccharides consist of 20 or more than twenty such units. Monosaccharides are sweet and cannot be hydrolyzed whereas polysaccharides are not sweet and can be hydrolyzed. For example, sugar is a monosaccharide, but cellulose is a polysaccharide.
What is Monosaccharide?
Mono means ‘single,’ and saccharin stands for‘sugars,’ hence monosaccharides are the simplest form of carbohydrates. They are made up of a single sugar unit which cannot be further hydrolyzed into simpler ones. They are insoluble in nonpolar solvents but soluble in water. They are crystalline, colorless and sweet in taste. They are made up of unbranched carbon chain in which carbon atoms are linked by a single bond. A monosaccharide may consist of aldoses or ketoses. An aldose is a sugar in which the carbonyl group (a carbon atom linked by a double bond to an oxygen atom) is present at the end of the carbon chain but, if the carbonyl group is present at any other position of the carbon chain except at the end that it is called as a ketose. Other carbons of the chain contain a hydroxyl group. Trioses, tetroses, pentoses, hexoses, and heptoses, etc. are the monosaccharides that consist of three, four, five, six or seven carbon atoms respectively. They appear in D and L form, where D is “Dextro” form while L is “Levo” form that are the mirror images of each other. Naturally occurring monosaccharides are found in D-form while L form is found in synthetically produced monosaccharides. These both types have different properties. Some examples of monosaccharides are Glucose, fructose, mannose, and galactose, etc. The molecular formula of Monosaccharide is Cn(H2O)n; Here n is the small number range from 2-10.
What is Polysaccharide?
Poly means ‘many’ and saccharin stands for ‘sugar.’ They are the type of carbohydrate that is made up of ten to thousands of monosaccharides. They are also called glycans. These are the long chains of monosaccharides units attached by glycosidic bonds and can be hydrolyzed to give simple units, i.e., oligosaccharides or monosaccharides. They have high molecular weight and differ from each other in the length of the chains, recurring of monosaccharide units, in the type of bonding and degree of branching, etc. They may have a linear or highly branched structure. Some polysaccharides are said as storage polysaccharides, e.g., starch and glycogen while others are structural polysaccharides like cellulose and chitin, etc. The Molecular formula of Polysaccharide is Cx(H2O)y; Here x is usually a big number range between 200-2500.
Types
- Homopolysaccharides: These are the polysaccharides that are consist of the same type of monosaccharide units.
- Heteropolysaccharides: They consist of two or more different type of monosaccharides units.
