General Veterinary Biochemistry

INTRODUCTION

• Most of the carbohydrates found in nature occur as polysaccharides. They are also referred  to as “ glycans”. They contain ten to thousand monosaccharide units.
• Polysaccharides are composed of simple or derived sugars, joined by glycosidic linkages. They exist as linear chain or as branched structures.
• Homo polysaccharides contain only a single type of sugar unit. E.g. Cellulose, starch and glycogen.
• Hetero polysaccharides contain two or more kinds of sugar units. E.g. Hyaluronic acid,heparin and chondroitin sulphate.
• Some homopolysaccharides serve as storage function. They are used as fuels - starch in plant and glycogen in animal.
• Other homopolysaccharides such as cellulose and chitin serve as structural elements in plant cell walls and animal exoskeleton respectively.
• Hetero polysaccharides provide extracellular support for organisms of all kingdoms.