How are glucose molecules joined together to make starch, glycogen and cellulose?
(i) Starch: Starch is a polymer of α-glucose and consists of two components, namely, amylose and amylopectin. Amylose is a linear polymer of α-D-glucose. It contains about 200 glucose units which are linked to one another through α-linkage involving C1 of one glucose unit with C4 of the other. Amylopectin, on the other hand, is a highly branched polymer.
(ii) Glycogen: It is a polymer of about thousand glucose units arranged in the form of highly branched chain.
(iii) Cellulose: Cellulose is a linear polymer of β-D-glycose in which C1 of one glucose unit is connected to C4 of the other as shown below