polysaccharide
Sign in to savethumb|upright=1.5|3D structure of cellulose, a [[beta-glucan polysaccharide]] thumb|class=skin-invert-image|upright=1.5|Amylose is a linear [[polymer of glucose mainly linked with α(1→4) bonds. It can be made of several thousands of glucose units. It is one of the two components of starch, the other being amylopectin.]]
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A polysaccharide is a large molecule made up of many sugar units linked together in a chain, with examples including cellulose (found in plants) and starch (a storage carbohydrate in many organisms). Polysaccharides are important because they serve as key structural materials and energy sources—cellulose provides plant cell structure, while starch stores energy that organisms can access when needed.
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Article
20 sectionsContents
- Cellulose and dietary fiber
- Structure
- Storage polysaccharides
- Starch
- Glycogen
- Galactogen
- Inulin
- Structural polysaccharides
- Arabinoxylans
- Cellulose
- Chitin
- Pectins
- Acidic polysaccharides
- Bacterial polysaccharides
- Chemical identification tests for polysaccharides
- Periodic acid-Schiff stain (PAS)
- Derivatives
- See also
- References
- External links
thumb|upright=1.5|3D structure of cellulose, a [[beta-glucan polysaccharide]] thumb|class=skin-invert-image|upright=1.5|Amylose is a linear [[polymer of glucose mainly linked with α(1→4) bonds. It can be made of several thousands of glucose units. It is one of the two components of starch, the other being amylopectin.]]
Polysaccharides (; ) are "Compounds consisting of a large number of monosaccharides linked glycosidically". They are the most abundant carbohydrates in food. Their structures range from linear to highly branched polymers. Examples include storage polysaccharides such as starch, glycogen, and galactogen and structural polysaccharides such as hemicellulose and chitin. The term "glycan" is synonymous with polysaccharide, but often glycans are discussed in the context of glycoconjugates, i.e. hybrids of polysaccharides and proteins or lipids.