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polysaccharide
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polysaccharide

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A typical polysaccharide molecule, glycogen (animal starch), is formed from linked glucose (C6H12O6) molecules. A glycogen molecule has 100-1,000 linked glucose units.

Long-chain carbohydrate made up of hundreds or thousands of linked simple sugars (monosaccharides) such as glucose and closely related molecules.

The polysaccharides are natural polymers. They either act as energy-rich food stores in plants (starch) and animals (glycogen), or have structural roles in the plant cell wall (cellulose, pectin) or the tough outer skeleton of insects and similar creatures (chitin). See also carbohydrate.



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