Animal Biotechnology

POLYSACCHARIDES

• Polysaccharides are polymers of simple sugars covalently linked by glycosidic bonds.
• They function mainly as nutritional sugar stores and as structural materials. Cellulose and starch are abundant components of plants.
• Both are glucose polymers but differ in the way the glucose monomers are linked.
• Cellulose is a linear polymer of glucose with beta (1 -4) linkages. Starch is a sugar store and it contains two components a amylose, a linear polymer with alpha (1-4) linkages and amylopectin, a branched polymer with  alpha (1-6) linkages.