What are the most abundant organic polymers?
The most abundant organic polymers on Earth are cellulose (representing ~ 30% of non-fossil organic carbon), lignin (~ 30%), hemicellulose, pectin, chitin and keratin. Cellulose is the most common of the organic polymers in the cell walls of plants that represent most of the earthly biomass. A total of about 33% of plant matter is cellulose. Cotton is 90% cellulose, while wood is about 50%. It is used in every plant and is excreted by some bacteria like biofilm. Cellulose is a primary part of cardboard and paper. For paper production, it is distributed into pulp, bleached and then forms into leaves. For most animals, such as humans, cellulose is unstable and is a "diet fiber" that acts as a bulky agent for our feces. Some animals, such as ruminants and termites, have special bacteria in their guts to help break down cellulose and make them digestible.
other organic polymers found in large quantities in plants include hemicellulose, lignin andPectin. These form a majority of vascular plants and serve different functions. For example, hemicellulose is non -crystalline, unlike cellulose, consists of shorter molecular chains and has a branching structure, while cellulose does not. Lignin accounts for a quarter of a third of the dry matter of Wood, which makes it a second abundant among organic polymers.
The most abundant organic polymers are not counting plants, in this order chitin and keratin are in this order. Chitin consists of most cell walls of mushrooms and exoskeletons of all arthropods, including insects and crustaceans that are extremely numerous. The amount of chitin found in nature is likely to overcome the dry weight of the terrestrial biomass of vertebrates. Insects constantly create in bulk and discard it when it melts.
keratin is one organic polymers that we are most familiar with because they make up most of the hard but non -linealized structures in reptiles, birds, a collarelementaries and mammals. In particular, keratin is the main part of nails and hair in mammals, scales and claws at reptiles, many parts of birds, including feathers, and form exoskeletons of arthropods together with Chitin.