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1.1: Polysaccharides - Starch

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    1331
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    Starch is the storage form of glucose in plants. There are two forms of starch: amylose and amylopectin. Structurally they differ in that amylose is a linear polysaccharide, whereas amylopectin is branched. The linear portion of both amylose and amylopectin contains alpha 1-4 glycosidic bonds, while the branches of amylopectin are made up of alpha 1-6 glycosidic bonds.

    Figure 2.1511.png

    Figure 2.1511 Structure of amylose

    Figure 2.1512.png

    Figure 2.1512 Structure of amylopectin

    Amylopectin is more common than amylose (4:1 ratio on average) in starch1,2. Some starchy foods include grains, root crops, tubers, and legumes.

    References & Links

    1. Stipanuk MH. (2006) Biochemical, physiological, & molecular aspects of human nutrition. St. Louis, MO: Saunders Elsevier.
    2. Byrd-Bredbenner C, Moe G, Beshgetoor D, Berning J. (2009) Wardlaw's perspectives in nutrition. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

    Contributors and Attributions


    This page titled 1.1: Polysaccharides - Starch is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Brian Lindshield via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.

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