Monosaccharide, oligosaccharide and polysaccharide substances, as well as substances derived from a monosaccharide by reduction of the carbonyl group (alditol), by oxidation, including the oxidation of one or more terminal groups of a carboxylic acid, or by replacement of one or more hydroxy groups by a hydrogen atom, an amino group, a thiol group, or by similar heteroatomic groups. This term also includes derivatives of these of these compounds.
Note: The term carbohydrate was applied originally to monosaccharides, in recognition of the fact that their empirical composition can be expressed as \(\ce{C_{m}(H2O)_{n}}\). However, the term is now used generically in a wider sense.
Source:
PAC, 2018, 90, 1121. 'Terminology of bioanalytical methods (IUPAC Recommendations 2018)' on page 1170 (https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2016-1120)