Xylose vs. Xylan — What's the Difference?

Xylose (cf. Greek: ξύλον, xylon, "wood") is a sugar first isolated from wood, and named for it.

Xylan (; ) (CAS number: 9014-63-5) is a type of hemicellulose that represents the third most abundant biopolymer on Earth. It is found in plants, in the secondary cell walls of dicots and all cell walls of grasses.

A crystalline monosaccharide, C5H10O5, that is a component of most hemicelluloses in plants. Also called wood sugar.

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

(carbohydrate) One of the pentoses, C₅H₁₀O₅, a white crystalline sugar, derived from wood.

(carbohydrate) A polysaccharide, consisting of xylose residues, found in the cell walls of some algae and plants.

An unfermentable sugar of the pentose class, C5H10O5, formed by the hydrolysis of xylan; wood sugar.

A gummy substance of the pentosan class, present in woody tissue, and yielding xylose on hydrolysis; wood gum.

A sugar extracted from wood or straw; used in foods for diabetics