Editing Hydrolysis (section)

===Polysaccharides{{Anchor|saccharification}}===
[[File:Sucrose-inkscape.svg|thumb|Sucrose. The glycoside bond is represented by the central oxygen atom, which holds the two monosaccharide units together.]]
[[Monosaccharide]]s can be linked together by [[glycosidic bond]]s, which can be cleaved by hydrolysis. Two, three, several or many monosaccharides thus linked form [[disaccharide]]s, [[trisaccharide]]s, [[oligosaccharide]]s, or [[polysaccharide]]s, respectively. Enzymes that hydrolyze glycosidic bonds are called "[[glycoside hydrolase]]s" or "glycosidases".

The best-known disaccharide is [[sucrose]] (table sugar). Hydrolysis of sucrose yields [[glucose]] and [[fructose]]. [[Invertase]] is a [[sucrase]] used industrially for the hydrolysis of sucrose to so-called [[invert sugar]]. [[Lactase]] is essential for digestive hydrolysis of [[lactose]] in milk; many adult humans do not produce lactase and [[lactose intolerance|cannot digest the lactose]] in milk.

The hydrolysis of polysaccharides to soluble sugars can be recognized as [[saccharification]].<ref name=saccharification/> Malt made from [[barley]] is used as a source of β-amylase to break down [[starch]] into the disaccharide [[maltose]], which can be used by yeast to [[brewing|produce beer]]. Other [[amylase]] enzymes may convert starch to glucose or to oligosaccharides. [[Cellulose]] is first hydrolyzed to [[cellobiose]] by [[cellulase]] and then cellobiose is further hydrolyzed to [[glucose]] by [[beta-glucosidase]]. [[Ruminants]] such as cows are able to hydrolyze cellulose into cellobiose and then glucose because of [[symbiosis|symbiotic]] bacteria that produce cellulases.