Engineering problems time, role

Since the beginning of time, polysaccharides have been of immense importance to human civilization. They are a vital component of our food as an energy source (e.g. starch), and also as roughage (e.g. cellulose fibers) which aids in digestion. They are the earliest known structural materials, i.e. in the form of wood (which is chiefly cellulose, a polysaccharide), that still hold a prominent place as an engineering material. The role of polysaccharides in human civiUzation is vast, and they surround us all the time, even in this era of synthetic materials/plastics in the form of textiles, paper, glue, food and food additives, etc., without causing any major environmental disposal problems (unlike their synthetic counterparts). 

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