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Food Science & Technology vocabulary · Food Chemistry and Composition

Carbohydrate

Meaning in food science & technology, with examples

/ˌkɑrboʊˈhaɪdreɪt/nounCore term

In food science & technology, carbohydrate means: One of the main groups of nutrients, including sugars, starch and fiber, made of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen; it is the main source of energy in most diets.

In Turkish: karbonhidrat

How it is used

On EU and Turkish nutrition labels, 'carbohydrate' is followed by 'of which sugars', and fiber is listed separately. Most carbohydrates give 4 kcal per gram. Food engineers care about starch gelatinization, sugar crystallization and reducing sugars, which take part in browning. In everyday speech people say 'carbs'.

Example sentences

  1. The label shows 60 grams of carbohydrate, of which 12 grams are sugars.

  2. Starch is the main carbohydrate in flour, potatoes and rice.

Common collocations

  • complex carbohydrate
  • total carbohydrate
  • of which sugars
  • low-carbohydrate
  • carbohydrate content
  • proteinA large molecule made of amino acids that is a key nutrient and also gives many foods their structure, for example in meat, cheese, bread dough and egg white.
  • nutrition labelThe table on a food package that shows the energy and nutrients, such as fat, carbohydrate, sugars, protein and salt, in a set amount of the product.
  • Maillard reactionA chemical reaction between amino acids and reducing sugars during heating that creates the brown colors and typical flavors of bread crust, roasted coffee and grilled meat.
  • sweetenerA substance used to give food a sweet taste; it often means intense sweeteners such as sucralose or stevia, which are much sweeter than sugar and add few or no calories.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Food Chemistry and Composition

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