There are two main groups of carbohydrate - starch and sugars. The main sources of carbohydrate include starchy foods, such as cereal , pulses and potatoes and foods and drinks containing sugars such as milk, fruits and vegetables , jam, confectionery, table sugar and some soft drinks. The Dietary and Nutritional Survey of British Adults . Classification of carbohydrate Carbohydrates can be classified in many different ways. One common way is according to their structure.
All carbohydrates are compounds of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.
These are the simplest carbohydrate molecules. The most commonly occurring monosaccharides in food are glucose, fructose and galactose . Disaccharides These sugars are formed when two monosaccharide molecules join together with the elimination of one molecule of water. Examples of polysaccharides are starch, glycogen, cellulose, beta glucan and pectin. Fibre is the term given to a mixture of substances, mainly complex carbohydrates, which cannot be digested in the small intestine in humans, but pass into the large bowel where they are fermented by bacteria.