Which of the following is a simple sugar?

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Multiple Choice

Which of the following is a simple sugar?

Explanation:
Simple sugars are the basic, one-unit building blocks of carbohydrates. Fructose is a monosaccharide, the smallest unit, so it’s considered a simple sugar. The other options are polysaccharides—long chains of sugar units—made for storage or structure. Starch and glycogen are storage forms in plants and animals, respectively, while cellulose is a plant structural polymer. Humans can’t digest cellulose due to its beta linkages, reinforcing that it isn’t a simple sugar. So fructose is the correct choice because it is a single sugar unit, unlike the others.

Simple sugars are the basic, one-unit building blocks of carbohydrates. Fructose is a monosaccharide, the smallest unit, so it’s considered a simple sugar. The other options are polysaccharides—long chains of sugar units—made for storage or structure. Starch and glycogen are storage forms in plants and animals, respectively, while cellulose is a plant structural polymer. Humans can’t digest cellulose due to its beta linkages, reinforcing that it isn’t a simple sugar. So fructose is the correct choice because it is a single sugar unit, unlike the others.

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