Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
Definition
A polysaccharide is a complex carbohydrate composed of long chains of monosaccharide units bound together by glycosidic linkages. They serve various roles in organisms, including energy storage and providing structural support.
The simplest form of carbohydrates that serves as the building blocks for more complex sugars like polysaccharides.
Glycosidic linkage: A type of covalent bond that joins a carbohydrate (sugar) molecule to another group, which can be another sugar or some other molecule, forming structures such as polysaccharides.