Cell Wall Polysaccharides

Abstract

Polysaccharides are considered the most abundant biomolecules in nature and are probably found in all organisms on the earth. It has diverse applications in living organisms ranging from their structure to biological signaling. Commercially, the polysaccharides have gold-standard value in pharmaceutical, paper, cosmetic and food industries. There are different sources of polysaccharides, but the cell walls of plants, algae, fungi and somehow bacteria are considered the best reservoirs of polysaccharides. The cell wall polysaccharide includes monosaccharides, disaccharides, oligosaccharides and other lipoglycans and proteoglycans. The current chapter will be focused on the cell wall polysaccharides of plants, green algae, fungi, and bacteria.