Page 146 - The Manga Guide to Biochemistry
P. 146
That's right! There are also saccharides made of many monosaccharides, which
form extremely long molecules or complex branching structures. These are called
polysaccharides.
Can you think of any polysaccharides that we might be familiar with?
Oh! We talked about potatoes and rice earlier, and they were chock-full of
saccharides. So...starch is a polysaccharide, right?
That’s right. Starch consists of many glucose monosaccharides connected together.
Plants store glucose in this form after it’s created during photosynthesis.
Glucose
starch
Our bodies (and those of animals) also contain a “storage material” like starch.
It’s called glycogen, and it’s produced mainly by the liver or muscles by connecting
together excess glucose molecules to store them for later.
Oh yeah, I remember you mentioning glycogen earlier, but now it actually makes
sense!
Glucose
glycogen
Other types of polysaccharides include cellulose and chitin. Cellulose is the main
component of plant cell walls, and chitin is the main component of the hard shells
of crustaceans, like shrimp and crabs. Mushrooms also use chitin as a structural
material.
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