Which carbohydrate is composed of multiple monosaccharides?

Polysaccharides are carbohydrates that consist of long chains of monosaccharide units bonded together. These molecules can contain hundreds to thousands of monosaccharide residues, which are simple sugars like glucose, fructose, and galactose. The bonding of these monosaccharides through glycosidic linkages results in various structural and storage functions in living organisms. For example, starch and glycogen serve as energy storage forms, while cellulose provides structural support in plant cell walls.

In contrast, disaccharides are composed of merely two monosaccharides, while oligosaccharides include a few (typically 3 to 10) monosaccharides. Monosaccharides, as the most basic form of carbohydrates, consist of single sugar molecules and do not contain multiple units. When discussing the broader classification of carbohydrates, polysaccharides are unique in their complexity and length, which is why they are specifically grouped as carbohydrates made from multiple monosaccharide units.