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Definition of "xylan" []

  • A yellow, water-soluble, gummy polysaccharide found in plant cell walls and yielding xylose upon hydrolysis. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "xylan" in a sentence
  • "Xylitol: A sugar alcohol, derived from xylan a complex sugar chain, sort of like cellulose, which is found in corncobs, straw, almond shells, and birch bark which is then broken down into individual units of a simple sugar, called xylose, which is then hydrogenated to make xylitol."
  • "The ability of snails to hydrolyze plant polysaccharides xylan, mannan, starch and cellulose as well as chitin, an animal and fungal polysaccharide, is probably an indication of their omnivorous diet."
  • "His method for the determination of chain length in methylated polysaccharides, an important structural problem, helped to settle the basic features of the starch, cellulose, glycogen, inulin and xylan molecules."