Development of Carbohydrate Nomenclature

The term “carbohydrate” was introduced early when gravimetric methods of analysis permitted the assignment of empirical formulas and it became recognized that starch, cane sugar, and the fibrous material of plant cell-walls were all comprised of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, with the latter elements being present in the same ratio as in water. The German term “Kohlenhydrate” and the French “hydrates de carbone” originated similarly. The generic suffix “-ose” in conjunction with the French “cellule” (for cell) led to the name “cellulose”, the most abundant natural organic compound; however, the constitution of this compound as an acetal-linked linear biopolymer of a polyhydroxyaldehyde monomer was not recognized until some two centuries after its discovery.