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The structure and uses of common polysaccharides Polysaccharides are macromolecules, with very large relative molecular masses ranging from 5000 to 10,000, they are also polymers formed from large numbers of monosaccharide monomers, joined together by covalent bonds by a process known as condensation polymerisation. This process is essentially similar to the way in which two monosaccharide are joined to form a disaccharide, which has already been described. The commonly occurring polysaccharides starch, glycogen and cellulose are all polymers of glucose. The glucose monomers are linked together by glycosidic bonds. The different nature of these polysaccharides depends on the isomer of glucose involved and on the type of glycosidic bond. Starch is the major storage carbohydrate (polysaccharide) in higher plants, being the end product of photosynthesis. Starch is composed of a mixture of two polymers, an essentially linear polysaccharide -amylose, and a highly branched polysaccharide - amylopectin. Starch is unique among carbohydrates because it...

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