a polysaccharide with less than 150 polymer units of various sugars, that is extracted from plants, esp. woody and corn fiber, by dilute alkalies
See hemicellulose in American Heritage Dictionary 4
(hĕmˌĭ-sĕlˈyə-lōsˌ, -lōzˌ)
noun
Any of several polysaccharides that are more complex than a sugar and less complex than cellulose, found in plant cell walls and produced commercially from corn grain hulls.