VPB 112: General Veterinary Biochemistry (1+1)

STARCH

• Starch, the storage form of carbohydrate in plants contains 2 types of glucose polymers - amylose and amylopectin.
• Amylose consists of long, unbranched chains of glucose units linked by  α( 1  4) linkages (15 -20%), soluble in water. 
• Amylopectin (85 – 80%) is also a higher molecular weight sugar, but is highly branched. It is composed of  α( 1  4) linked chains of glucose, that are joined together at branch points via  α( 1  6) linkages. Amylopectin is similar to glycogen except that, it has fewer branches. It is insoluble in water.