Question

Differentiate between aldose and ketose

Answer 1

Hint: Monosaccharides are formed of a single polyhydroxy aldehyde or polyhydroxy ketone unit. An aldose is defined as a monosaccharide that contains an aldehyde group. Ketose is a monosaccharide that contains a ketone group.

Complete answer:
A carbohydrate molecule is essentially a chain of several hydroxyl groups, with a terminal aldehyde or keto group. Ketose and aldose are monosaccharides that can be differentiated based on the group they contain. Some of the differences between aldoses and Ketoses are the following:

Aldoses	Ketoses
Aldoses are those carbohydrates which contain aldehyde groups	Ketoses are those carbohydrates which contain keto groups
They are primarily found in plants.	They are used in processed food.
In aldoses, the ultimate carbon is double bonded with oxygen.	In ketoses, this double bond is formed by the penultimate carbon.
Arabinose, glucose, manose, galactose, etc.are aldoses.	Erythrulose, xylulose, fructose, etc. are ketones.

Additional Information:
-Carbohydrates are the most abundant organic compound in nature. They are polyhydroxy carbonyl compounds, or the substances which yield these compounds on hydrolysis.
-In general, they are aldehyde derivatives or ketone derivatives of polyhydric alcohols, formed of C, H, and O.
-All carbohydrates characteristically contain a carbonyl group and two or more hydroxyl groups in each molecule.

Note:
-The term carbohydrate literally means hydrate of carbon or carbon hydrate, which contains hydrogen and oxygen in the ratio 2:1 in water. Based on the Physico-chemical properties, saccharides are classified into neutral, basic, and acidic species. Neutral sugars have only hydroxyl and carboxyl groups.
-Basic ones contain amino groups, in addition to hydroxyl and carboxyl groups. Do they have amino-saccharides or amino sugars? Acidic sugars have additional carboxyl groups. Hence, they are carboxy saccharides or carboxy sugars.
-Based on molecular complexity, biologically important carbohydrates are classified into monosaccharides, oligosaccharides, polysaccharides.