STARCH GRANULES - STRUCTURE AND BIOSYNTHESIS

The emphasis of this review is on starch structure and its biosynthesi s. Improvements in understanding have been brought about during the la st decade through the development of new physicochemical and biologica l techniques, leading to real scientific progress. All this literature needs to be kept inside the general literature about biopolymers, des pite some confusing results or discrepancies arising from the biologic al variability of starch. However, a coherent picture of starch over a ll the different structural levels can be presented, in order to obtai n some generalizations about its structure. In this review we will foc us first on our present understanding of the structures of amylose and amylopectin and their organization within the granule, and we will th en give insights on the biosynthetic mechanisms explaining the biogene sis of starch in plants. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights res erved.