Disaccharides

A Diasaccharide, is a carbohydrate molecules which consist two units of monosaccharide molecules bound together by a glycosidic bond.

Some common examples of disaccharides are:

• Sucrose (made up of the monosaccarides glucose and fructose)

• Lactose (made up of the monosaccarides galactose and glucose)
• Maltose (made up of 2 glucose monosaccarides)

In lactose and maltose, an alpha 1,4-glycosidic bond is formed between the two monosaccharides, resulting from the linkage of the alpha-anomeric form of C-1 on one sugar and the hydroxyl oxygen on the C-4 of the other sugar.