Question

Carbohydrates come in different sizes. Complex carbohydrates are large compounds made up of many small carbohydrate molecules. These small molecules are sometimes called building blocks. Which of the following are the building blocks of complex carbohydrates?

1) Monosaccharides
2) Disaccharides
3) Polysaccharides
4) Proteins

Answer 1

Complex carbohydrates, or polysaccharides, are made up of monosaccharides, not proteins. The most common monosaccharide building block is glucose, which forms starch, glycogen, cellulose, and chitin.

Step-by-step explanation:

The building blocks of complex carbohydrates, also known as polysaccharides, are monosaccharides. These simple sugars are the fundamental units that, when chemically linked together in long chains, create larger carbohydrate molecules. The most common monosaccharide is glucose, a hexose sugar, which is a critical component of complex carbohydrates like starch, glycogen, cellulose, and chitin.

Starch and glycogen serve as energy storage molecules in plants and animals, respectively. Cellulose is a crucial structural component in plant cell walls, providing rigidity and strength, whereas chitin serves a similar role in some animals, particularly insects. Monosaccharides are linked via glycosidic bonds to form these larger structures.

It is a common misconception that proteins are the building blocks of complex carbohydrates; they are not. Instead, simple sugars like glucose are repeatedly joined to form the complex carbohydrates that play numerous vital roles in living organisms, ranging from energy storage to structural integrity.