In this essay I will look at the biological significance of polysaccharides, and what makes them significant

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The Biological Significance of Polysaccharides

In this essay I will look at the biological significance of polysaccharides, and what makes them significant.  I will do this by looking in more depth at their structures, bond type etc …

Polysaccharides are complex carbohydrates.  A polysaccharide is made up of lots of monosaccharides joined together in a large chain by glycosidic bonds.  Glycosidic bonds are covalent and form after a condensation reaction.  They have a very large relative atomic mass, and can either be branched or unbranched.  Unlike monosaccharides and disaccharides they do not taste sweet and they are also insoluble.  Polysaccharides have a general formula of Cn(H2O)n-1 where n is usually a large number between 200 and 500.

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Starch is a polysaccharide made up of alpha glucose monosaccharides.  However the alpha glucose in starch forms two compounds; amylopectin and amlylose.  Amylopectin makes up 70 % of starch, it consists of chains of glucose monomers linked with 1,4 glycosidic bonds.  However about every 20-30 residus there is a 1,6 bond which results in branches being fromed.

Amylose makes up the other 30% of starch, however it is an unbranched linear polymer unlike amylopectin.  The monomers are joined in1,4 glycosidic bonds.  The chains usually have around 300 alpha glucose molecules and form a stiff left handed single helix shape.

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