What are the most complex carbohydrates known as?

Polysaccharides are indeed recognized as the most complex carbohydrates. They are made up of long chains of monosaccharide units linked together by glycosidic bonds. This structure allows polysaccharides to perform various essential functions in living organisms, including energy storage and providing structural support.

For example, glycogen and starch are polysaccharides that serve as energy reserves in animals and plants respectively, while cellulose provides structural integrity to plant cell walls. The complexity of polysaccharides allows them to be digestible or indigestible, affecting their role in nutrition and digestion.

In contrast, monosaccharides consist of single sugar units, disaccharides are composed of two sugar units, and oligosaccharides typically consist of a small number of monosaccharides. These simpler carbohydrates do not exhibit the same complexity and functionality as polysaccharides, which are crucial for higher-order biological processes.