STARCH - AS SIMPLE AS A, B, C

Starch is the main carbohydrate reserve in plants and an important par t of our nutrition, Increasingly, it is being seen by industry as a us eful raw material to include in foodstuffs and with which to produce o ther carbon-based polymers. Our understanding of starch biosynthesis a nd chemistry has advanced rapidly over the last few years, but our kno wledge of how this translates into structure and thence into physicoch emical properties and function is still lacking. Here, we have reviewe d this information with an emphasis on genetics and physical propertie s, especially using data from the model crop, pea (Pisum sativum L.).