Structure

Nutrition polysaccharides are common sources of energy. Many organisms can easily break down starches into glucose; however, most organisms cannot metabolize cellulose or other polysaccharides like cellulose, chitin, and arabinoxylans. Some bacteria and protists can metabolize these carbohydrate types. Ruminants and termites, for example, use microorganisms to process cellulose.^[7]

Even though these complex polysaccharides are not very digestible, they provide important dietary elements for humans. Called dietary fiber, these carbohydrates enhance digestion. The main action of dietary fiber is to change the nature of the contents of the gastrointestinal tract and how other nutrients and chemicals are absorbed.^[8][9] Soluble fiber binds to bile acids in the small intestine, making them less likely to enter the body; this, in turn, lowers cholesterol levels in the blood.^[10] Soluble fiber also attenuates the absorption of sugar, reduces sugar response after eating, normalizes blood lipid levels and, once fermented in the colon, produces short-chain fatty acids as byproducts with wide-ranging physiological activities (discussion below). Although insoluble fiber is associated with reduced diabetes risk, the mechanism by which this occurs is unknown.^[11]

Not yet formally proposed as an essential macronutrient (as of 2005), dietary fiber is nevertheless regarded as important for the diet, with regulatory authorities in many developed countries recommending increases in fiber intake.^{[8][9][12][13]}

Starch

Starch is a glucose polymer in which glucopyranose units are bonded by alpha-linkages. It is made up of a mixture of amylose (15–20%) and amylopectin (80–85%). Amylose consists of a linear chain of several hundred glucose molecules, and Amylopectin is a branched molecule made of several thousand glucose units (every chain of 24–30 glucose units is one unit of Amylopectin). Starches are insoluble in water. They can be digested by breaking the alpha-linkages (glycosidic bonds). Both humans and other animals have amylases so that they can digest starches. Potato, rice, wheat, and maize are major sources of starch in the human diet. The formations of starches are the ways that plants store glucose.^[14]

Glycogen

Glycogen serves as the secondary long-term energy storage in animal and fungal cells, with the primary energy stores being held in adipose tissue. Glycogen is made primarily by the liver and the muscles, but can also be made by glycogenesis within the brain and stomach.^[15]

Glycogen is analogous to starch, a glucose polymer in plants, and is sometimes referred to as animal starch,^[16] having a similar structure to amylopectin but more extensively branched and compact than starch. Glycogen is a polymer of α(1→4) glycosidic bonds linked with α(1→6)-linked branches. Glycogen is found in the form of granules in the cytosol/cytoplasm in many cell types and plays an important role in the glucose cycle. Glycogen forms an energy reserve that can be quickly mobilized to meet a sudden need for glucose, but one that is less compact and more immediately available as an energy reserve than triglycerides (lipids).^{[citation needed]}

In the liver hepatocytes, glycogen can compose up to 8 percent (100–120 grams in an adult) of the fresh weight soon after a meal.^[17] Only the glycogen stored in the liver can be made accessible to other organs. In the muscles, glycogen is found in a low concentration of one to two percent of the muscle mass. The amount of glycogen stored in the body—especially within the muscles, liver, and red blood cells^[18][19][20]—varies with physical activity, basal metabolic rate, and eating habits such as intermittent fasting. Small amounts of glycogen are found in the kidneys and even smaller amounts in certain glial cells in the brain and white blood cells. The uterus also stores glycogen during pregnancy to nourish the embryo.^[17]

Glycogen is composed of a branched chain of glucose residues. It is primarily stored in the liver and muscles.^[21]

• It is an energy reserve for animals.
• It is the chief form of carbohydrate stored in animal organisms.
• It is insoluble in water. It turns brown-red when mixed with iodine.
• It also yields glucose on hydrolysis.

• 
  Schematic 2-D cross-sectional view of glycogen. A core protein of glycogenin is surrounded by branches of glucose units. The entire globular granule may contain approximately 30,000 glucose units.^[22]
• 
  A view of the atomic structure of a single branched strand of glucose units in a glycogen molecule.

Galactogen

Galactogen is a polysaccharide of galactose that functions as energy storage in pulmonate snails and some Caenogastropoda.^[23] This polysaccharide is exclusive of the reproduction and is only found in the albumen gland from the female snail reproductive system and in the perivitelline fluid of eggs.^[24] Furthermore, galactogen serves as an energy reserve for developing embryos and hatchlings, which is later replaced by glycogen in juveniles and adults.^[25]

Formed by crosslinking polysaccharide-based nanoparticles and functional polymers, galactogens have applications within hydrogel structures. These hydrogel structures can be designed to release particular nanoparticle pharmaceuticals and/or encapsulated therapeutics over time or in response to environmental stimuli.^[26]

Galactogens are polysaccharides with binding affinity for bioanalytes. With this, by end-point attaching galactogens to other polysaccharides constituting the surface of medical devices, galactogens have use as a method of capturing bioanalytes (e.g., CTC's), a method for releasing the captured bioanalytes and an analysis method.^[27]

Inulin

Inulin is a naturally occurring polysaccharide complex carbohydrate composed of fructose, a plant-derived food that human digestive enzymes cannot completely break down. The inulins belong to a class of dietary fibers known as fructans. Inulin is used by some plants as a means of storing energy and is typically found in roots or rhizomes. Most plants that synthesize and store inulin do not store other forms of carbohydrates such as starch. In the United States in 2018, the Food and Drug Administration approved inulin as a dietary fiber ingredient used to improve the nutritional value of manufactured food products.^[28]

Arabinoxylans

Arabinoxylans are found in both the primary and secondary cell walls of plants and are the copolymers of two sugars: arabinose and xylose. They may also have beneficial effects on human health.^[29]

Cellulose

The structural components of plants are formed primarily from cellulose. Wood is largely cellulose and lignin, while paper and cotton are nearly pure cellulose. Cellulose is a polymer made with repeated glucose units bonded together by beta-linkages. Humans and many animals lack an enzyme to break the beta-linkages, so they do not digest cellulose. Certain animals, such as termites can digest cellulose, because bacteria possessing the enzyme are present in their gut. Cellulose is insoluble in water. It does not change color when mixed with iodine. On hydrolysis, it yields glucose. It is the most abundant carbohydrate in nature.^[30]

Chitin

Chitin is one of many naturally occurring polymers. It forms a structural component of many animals, such as exoskeletons. Over time it is bio-degradable in the natural environment. Its breakdown may be catalyzed by enzymes called chitinases, secreted by microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi and produced by some plants. Some of these microorganisms have receptors to simple sugars from the decomposition of chitin. If chitin is detected, they then produce enzymes to digest it by cleaving the glycosidic bonds in order to convert it to simple sugars and ammonia.^[31]

Chemically, chitin is closely related to chitosan (a more water-soluble derivative of chitin). It is also closely related to cellulose in that it is a long unbranched chain of glucose derivatives. Both materials contribute structure and strength, protecting the organism.^[32]

Pectins

Pectins are a family of complex polysaccharides that contain 1,4-linked α-D-galactosyl uronic acid residues. They are present in most primary cell walls and in the nonwoody parts of terrestrial plants.^[33]

Periodic acid-Schiff stain (PAS)

Polysaccharides with unprotected vicinal diols or amino sugars (where some hydroxyl groups are replaced with amines) give a positive periodic acid-Schiff stain (PAS). The list of polysaccharides that stain with PAS is long. Although mucins of epithelial origins stain with PAS, mucins of connective tissue origin have so many acidic substitutions that they do not have enough glycol or amino-alcohol groups left to react with PAS.^{[citation needed]}