Introduction to chemistry of carbohydrates

1.3. Polysaccharides

Polysaccharides, or polycarbohydrates, are the most abundant carbohydrates found in food. They are long-chain polymeric carbohydrates composed of monosaccharide units bound together by glycosidic linkages.

Most of the carbohydrates found in nature occur in the form of high molecular polymers called polysaccharides.

There are two types of polysaccharides. These are:

• Homopolysaccharides that contain only one type of monosaccharide building blocks.

• Heteropolysaccharides, which contain two or more different kinds monosaccharide building blocks.