What is "trisaccharide"

Trisaccharide \Tri*sac"cha*ride\, n. Also -rid \-rid\ (Chem.) A complex sugar, as raffinose, yielding by hydrolysis three simple sugar molecules.

n. (context carbohydrate English) An oligosaccharide consisting of three monosaccharide units joined together

n. any of a variety of carbohydrates that yield three monosaccharide molecules on complete hydrolysis

Trisaccharides are oligosaccharides composed of three monosaccharides with two glycosidic bonds connecting them. Similar to the disaccharides, each glycosidic bond can be formed between any hydroxyl group on the component monosaccharides. Even if all three component sugars are the same (e.g., glucose), different bond combinations (regiochemistry) and stereochemistry (alpha- or beta-) result in trisaccharides that are diastereoisomers with different chemical and physical properties