ABSTRACT
Long chains of monosaccharides joined together are collectively called polysaccharides. The major storage polysaccharides are glycogen, starch and dextran. Cellulose is a structural polysaccharide found in plant cell walls. A glycogen molecule consists entirely of glucose units, most of which are linked in long chains by α1–4 bonds. Starch exists in plants as insoluble starch granules in chloroplasts. Each starch granule contains a mixture of two polysaccharide forms, amylase and amylopectin. Dextran is a glucose polymer where the glucose residues are mainly linked by α1–6 bonds. However, a few branches also occur. Cellulose is an unbranched polysaccharide of glucose units linked by β1–4 bonds. Oligosaccharides are short chains of monosaccharides linked together by glycosidic bonds. In the case of oligosaccharides linked to proteins or lipids, the oligosaccharide is not a repeating unit but consists of a range of different monosaccharides joined by a variety of types of bonds.
