basic carbohydrate structure

Carbohydrates consist of the elements carbon ( C ), hydrogen ( H ) and oxygen ( O ) with a ratio of hydrogen twice that of carbon and oxygen. Carbohydrates include sugars, starches, cellulose and many other compounds found in living organisms. In their basic form, carbohydrates are simple sugars or monosaccharides . These simple sugars can combine with each other to form more complex carbohydrates. The combination of two simple sugars is a disaccharide . Carbohydrates consisting of two to ten simple sugars are called oligosaccharides , and those with a larger number are called polysaccharides .