hemicellulose, any of a group of complex carbohydrates that, with other carbohydrates (e.g., pectins), surround the cellulose fibres of plant cells. The most common hemicelluloses contain xylans (many molecules of the five-carbon sugar xylose linked together), a uronic acid (i.e., sugar acid), and arabinose (another five-carbon sugar). Hemicelluloses have no chemical relationship to cellulose.