Abstract:

Terms and their definitions are the cornerstone of knowledge system. If the definitions of one term are not unified, the knowledge system thus constructed will be unstable and people cannot communicate accurately accordingly. Oligosaccharide is a basic term in the knowledge system of carbohydrate chemistry, and will directly affect all researches and applications based on it. However, oligosaccharide is defined differently in various books, which brings inconvenience to the expression and application of the term. In this paper, the definition of oligosaccharide and classification of carbohydrate are discussed by comparing the concept in different terminology dictionaries and chemical books. It is suggested that the definition of oligosaccharide should be unified and should be separated from disaccharide, which is very important for the basic research and the development of oligosaccharide industry, as well as the international academic communication and the development of international markets related.

Key words: oligosaccharide, O-linked oligosaccharide, N-linked oligosaccharide, human milk oligosaccharide, disaccharide, sucrose, carbohydrate, terminology definition