<Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <P> Maltose (/ ˈmɔːltoʊs / or / ˈmɔːltoʊz /), also known as maltobiose or malt sugar, is a disaccharide formed from two units of glucose joined with an α (1 → 4) bond . In the isomer isomaltose, the two glucose molecules are joined with an α (1 → 6) bond . Maltose is the two - unit member of the amylose homologous series, the key structural motif of starch . When beta - amylase breaks down starch, it removes two glucose units at a time, producing maltose . An example of this reaction is found in germinating seeds, which is why it was named after malt . Unlike sucrose, it is a reducing sugar . </P> <P> Maltose was discovered by Augustin - Pierre Dubrunfaut, although this discovery was not widely accepted until it was confirmed in 1872 by Irish chemist and brewer Cornelius O'Sullivan . Its name comes from malt, combined with the suffix' - ose' which is used in names of sugars and other carbohydrates . </P> <P> Maltose is a disaccharide: the carbohydrates are generally divided into monosaccharides, oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides depending on the number of sugar subunits . Maltose, with two sugar units, is an oligosaccharide, specifically a disaccharide, because it consists of two glucose molecules . Glucose is a hexose: a monosaccharide containing six carbon atoms . The two glucose units are in the pyranose form and are joined by an O - glycosidic bond, with the first carbon (C) of the first glucose linked to the fourth carbon (C) of the second glucose, indicated as (1 → 4). The link is characterized as α because the glycosidic bond to the anomeric carbon (C) is in the opposite plane from the CH OH substituent in the same ring (C of the first glucose). If the glycosidic bond to the anomeric carbon (C) were in the same plane as the CH OH substituent, it would be classified as a β (1 → 4) bond, and the resulting molecule would be cellobiose . The anomeric carbon (C) of the second glucose molecule, which is not involved in a glycosidic bond, could be either an α - or β - anomer depending on the bond direction of the attached hydroxyl group relative to the CH OH substituent of the same ring, resulting in either α - maltose or β - maltose . </P>

Where is maltose broken down in the body