Poliszacharidja

Poliszacharidja, more commonly known as polysaccharides, are complex carbohydrates composed of long chains of monosaccharide units linked together by glycosidic bonds. These long polymers play crucial roles in living organisms, serving as energy storage molecules and structural components.

In plants, starch is a primary storage polysaccharide, consisting of two main types of glucose polymers: amylose and amylopectin. Cellulose, another plant polysaccharide, is a major structural component of cell walls, providing rigidity and support. Animals primarily store energy in the form of glycogen, a highly branched polysaccharide found mainly in the liver and muscles. Chitin, a polysaccharide containing nitrogen, is a key structural element in the exoskeletons of arthropods and the cell walls of fungi.

The properties of polysaccharides, such as their solubility, digestibility, and physical form, are determined by the type of monosaccharide units they are made of, the length of the polymer chains, and the nature of the glycosidic linkages. For example, the alpha linkages in starch make it digestible by humans, while the beta linkages in cellulose do not. These variations allow polysaccharides to fulfill a wide array of biological functions.