Which plant component is cellulose?

• A. Cellulose
• B. Glycogen
• C. Lignin
• D. Chitin

Answer: (A)

Cellulose is the plant structural polysaccharide that forms the rigid cell wall. It’s built from long chains of glucose units linked by β-1,4-glycosidic bonds, which straighten the chains and allow them to bundle into sturdy microfibrils. This structural network gives plant cells their shape and strength.

Glycogen is the storage polysaccharide in animals and fungi, composed mainly of glucose with α-1,4 linkages and branch points via α-1,6 bonds, not used for plant cell walls. Lignin is not a carbohydrate at all; it’s a phenolic polymer that reinforces and waterproofs cell walls, especially in wood, but it sits alongside cellulose rather than being cellulose itself. Chitin is made from N-acetylglucosamine and is found in fungal cell walls and arthropod exoskeletons, not in plants.

So, the plant component that is cellulose is the structural glucose polymer forming the plant cell wall.