saccharide

(noun)

The unit structure of carbohydrates, of general formula CnH2nOn. Either the simple sugars or polymers such as starch and cellulose. The saccharides exist in either a ring or short chain conformation, and typically contain five or six carbon atoms.

Examples of saccharide in the following topics:

Digestive Processes of the Small Intestine
- Lactase is absent in most adult humans and for them lactose, like most poly-saccharides, is not digested in the small intestine.
Absorption and Feces Formation in the Large Intestine
- In humans, these include most complex saccharides (at most, three disaccharides are digestible by humans).