Olysaccharides
Oligosaccharides are short chains of three to nine monosaccharide units. Trisaccharides, which have three monosaccharide units, are the type found most commonly in nature. Tetrasaccharides have four units, while pentasaccharides have five. Polysaccharides are long chains of 10 or more monosaccharide units. Some polysaccharides include hundreds or thousands of “links.” The polysaccharide glycogen is the major form of stored carbohydrate in human and animals. Its highly branched chains of glucose molecules are found in the liver and skeletal muscle tissues. From a nutrition point of view, the other important polysaccharides are starch, the storage carbohydrate of plants, and cellulose, which makes up plant cell walls. Both are also entirely made of glucose units.