What is a characteristic of oligosaccharides?

A characteristic of oligosaccharides is that they consist of two or more sugar units. Oligosaccharides typically contain 3 to about 10 monosaccharide units linked together by glycosidic bonds. This structure places them between simple sugars (monosaccharides) and more complex carbohydrates (polysaccharides), which consist of larger chains of sugar units.

This distinction is important as it highlights the complexity of oligosaccharides relative to monosaccharides, which are merely single sugar units, and polysaccharides, which consist of longer chains. While not all oligosaccharides are soluble dietary fibers, some can contribute to fiber intake depending on their specific composition and sources. However, the defining feature remains their composition of multiple sugar units, specifically two or more.