and so of meats, although its concentration at the time of slaughter will affect the ultimate pH of the meat, and thereby its texture (p 142) A sugar, glucose, and a polysaccharide, starch, which is a chain of glucose molecules Plants produce two broadly different forms of starch: simple long chains called amylose, and highly branched chains called amylopectin Cellulose Cellulose is, like amylose, a linear plant polysaccharide made up solely of glucose sugars Yet thanks to a minor difference in the way the sugars are linked to each other, the two compounds have very different properties: cooking dissolves starch granules but leaves cellulose fibers intact; most animals can digest starch, but not cellulose Cellulose is a structural support that’s laid down in cell walls in the form of tiny fibers analogous to steel reinforcing bars, and it’s made to be durable Few animals can digest cellulose, and hay-eating cattle and wood-eating termites can do so only because their guts are populated by cellulose-digesting bacteria To other animals, including ourselves, cellulose is indigestible fiber (which has its own value; see p 258) Hemicelluloses and Pectic Substances These polysaccharides (made from a variety of sugars, including galactose, xylose, arabinose) are found together with cellulose in the plant cell walls If the cellulose fibrils are the reinforcing bars in the cell walls, the amorphous hemicelluloses and pectic substances are a sort of jelly-like cement in which the bars are embedded Their significance for the cook is that, unlike ... Hemicelluloses and Pectic Substances These polysaccharides (made from a variety of sugars, including galactose, xylose, arabinose) are found together with cellulose in the plant cell walls If the cellulose fibrils are the reinforcing bars in the cell walls, the. .. reinforcing bars in the cell walls, the amorphous hemicelluloses and pectic substances are a sort of jelly-like cement in which the bars are embedded Their significance for the cook is that, unlike... that’s laid down in cell walls in the form of tiny fibers analogous to steel reinforcing bars, and it’s made to be durable Few animals can digest cellulose, and hay-eating cattle and wood-eating termites can do so only because