Have you ever taken a good look at the polysaccharides? The soon seem to resemble each other. There are some polysaccharides that are usually confused with each other due to their type of bonging. Before we go into this, we first need to know the definition of the polysaccharide. The polysaccharides are sugar polymers containing more than 20 or so monosaccharide units, and some have hundreds or thousands of units. Some polysaccharides, such as cellulose, are linear chains; others such as glycogen are branched. Both glycogen and cellulose consist of recurring units of D-glucose, but they differ in the type of glycosidic linkage and consequently have strikingly different properties and biological roles (Nelson and Cox 2004, 238). The polysaccharides will be discussed are glycogen, cellulose and starch. The table below shows the monosaccharide, bonding and a diagram to help differentiate between the polysaccharides.
| Polysaccharide | Monosaccharide | Bonds | Diagram |
| Starch: Amylose | α-glucose | 1-4 |  |
| Starch: Amylopectin | α-glucose | 1-4 and 1-6 |  |
| Glycogen | α-glucose | 1-4 and 1-6 (more 1-6 than amylopectin |  |
| Cellulose | β- glucose | 1-4 |  |
References:
http://www.goldiesroom.org/Note%20Packets/04%20Biochemistry/00%20Biochemistry–WHOLE.htm
http://www.science.smith.edu/departments/Biochem/Biochem_353/amylase.html
http://chemtech.org/cn/scit1305/biochemistry.htm
Nelson, David L., and Cox, Michael M..2004. Lehninger Principles of Biochemistry
Biochemistry 