Lactose vs. Polysaccharide — What's the Difference?

Lactose is a disaccharide. It is a sugar composed of galactose and glucose subunits and has the molecular formula C12H22O11.

Polysaccharides (), or polycarbohydrates, are the most abundant carbohydrate found in food. They are long chain polymeric carbohydrates composed of monosaccharide units bound together by glycosidic linkages.

A white crystalline disaccharide, C12H22O11, found in milk, that may be hydrolyzed to yield glucose and galactose. Refined lactose obtained from whey is used in infant foods, bakery products, confections, and pharmaceuticals as a diluent and excipient. Also called milk sugar.

A carbohydrate (e.g. starch, cellulose, or glycogen) whose molecules consist of a number of sugar molecules bonded together.

(carbohydrate) The disaccharide sugar of milk and dairy products, C₁₂H₂₂O₁₁, a product of glucose and galactose used as a food and in medicinal compounds.

Any of a class of carbohydrates, such as starch and cellulose, consisting of a number of monosaccharides joined by glycosidic bonds.

The main sugar present in milk, called also sugar of milk or milk sugar. When isolated pure it is obtained crystalline; it is separable from the whey by evaporation and crystallization. It is a disaccharide with the formula C12H22O11, being chemically 4-(

(carbohydrate) A polymer made of many saccharide units linked by glycosidic bonds.

See Galactose.

Any of a class of carbohydrates whose molecules contain chains of monosaccharide molecules

A sugar comprising one glucose molecule linked to a galactose molecule; occurs only in milk;