Starch
- A storage polysaccharide of plants, is a
polymer consisting entirely of glucose
monomers.
- Most of these monomers are joined by 1-4
linkages (number 1 carbon to number 4 carbon).
- The angle of these bonds makes the polymer
helical.
- The simplest form of starch, amylose, is
unbranched.
- Amylopectin, a more complex form of starch,
is a branched polymer with 1-6 linkages at the
branch points.
- Natural starches are mixtures of amylose (10-
20 %) and amylopectin (80-90 %).