What do carbohydrates yield upon complete hydrolysis?

Upon complete hydrolysis, carbohydrates are broken down into their simplest units, which are monosaccharides. Carbohydrates exist in various forms, such as polysaccharides, disaccharides, and oligosaccharides, each made up of chains of monosaccharides.

Polysaccharides, such as starch and glycogen, consist of long chains of monosaccharide units and require hydrolysis to break down into these basic units. Similarly, disaccharides, which are formed from two monosaccharides, also need hydrolysis to yield monosaccharides. Oligosaccharides, which consist of a small number of monosaccharides (typically 3-10), will also undergo hydrolysis to be further reduced to their monosaccharide components.

When carbohydrates undergo complete hydrolysis, all bonds holding these larger carbohydrate structures together are broken, ultimately resulting in the production of monosaccharides such as glucose, fructose, or galactose, depending on the original carbohydrate source. This process emphasizes the fundamental role of monosaccharides as the building blocks of carbohydrates.