What are polysaccharides.

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Solution

Polysaccharides are polymeric carbohydrate structures, formed of repeating units either mono- saccharides( e.g., glucose , fructose , galactose) or di-saccharides ( e.g., sucrose, lactose) joined together by glycosidic bonds.

They range in structure from linear to highly branched.
Examples include storage polysaccharides such as starch and glycogen, and structural polysaccharides such as cellulose and chitin.

Polysaccharides contain more than ten monosaccharide units.
Polysaccharides have a general formula of Cx(H2O)y where x is usually a large number between 200 and 2500.
Considering that the repeating units in the polymer backbone are often six-carbon monosaccharides, the general formula can also be represented as (C6H10O5)n where 40≤n≤3000.

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