n. a carbohydrate with three carbon units: for example, glyceraldehyde.
n. a simple sugar having the general formula (CH2O)n. Monosaccharides may have between three and nine carbon atoms, but the most common number is five or six. Monosaccharides are classified according to the number of carbon atoms they possess. Thus trioses have three carbon atoms, tetroses four, pentoses five, and hexoses six. The most abundant monosaccharide is glucose (a hexose).... monosaccharide