Mature cotton fibers have been described as having a cellulose content as high as 98%, a ß-1,4-glucan. The generally-accepted hypothesis of cellulose microfibril biosynthesis is that a membrane-bound enzyme complex adds one glucose molecule at a time to an accreting linear polymer. No intermediate products of the biosynthesis have been hypothesized. However, several carbohydrates, of varying degrees of polymerization (DP), can be extracted from mature fiber, depending on the extractant employed. Glucose, fructose, sucrose, ribose, galactitol, mannitol, arabitol, raffinose, stachyose and verbascose, among other sugars and sugar alcohols, can be extracted with cold, deionized water. A series of glycan oligomers, comprised chiefly of glucose, putatively of DP 4 to more than 25, may be extracted by mild acid, 0.1 N HCl. A similar series of oligomers also may be extracted by strong acid treatment of 80% acetic,1.8N nitric acid. The presence of the soluble sugars and oligomers can be demonstrated and their relative concentrations determined by high pH anion exchange chromatography. The oligomers liberated by mild and strong acid treatment also have been recovered from wood, paper, and textiles; and have been used to differentiate among specific types of materials within such cellulose sources. In developing cotton, the same oligomers may be found and vary in response to developmental and environmental factors. Analysis of over 15 cultivars further suggests that the profiles of oligomers from mature cotton fibers vary among cultivars, and may provide a means of cultivar identification.