Publisher Summary This chapter provides an overview on the main groups of plant
polysaccharide other than those, such as starch and fructans. Plant polysaccharides fall into
a number of well-defined structural families. The availability of modern techniques has made
possible the development of a new and powerful complementary approach to the study of
plant cell polysaccharides. Biologically homogeneous primary cell walls are readily
obtained from undifferentiated cells grown in suspension culture. The methylation technique …

Cellulose and hemicellulose are major cell wall polysaccharides in woody plants which
consist mainly of lignified secondary xylem. Their chemical structures have been well
characterized| 1–4]. Recent studies have revealed important biological and physiological
functions of the primary cell wall polysaccharides in plant growth and regulation [5–7].
Significant differences exist in polysaccharide composition of the primary cell walls and the
lignified secondary walls. In this chapter, the structure and functions of cell wall …