AMYLOPECTIN

Description

If you’re making gravy for your Thanksgiving meal, you’ll need some starch. Also, called amylum, starch is the component of plants that stores energy, much as animals store fats. Corn, wheat, and potatoes are especially rich in starch.
Starch consists of complex carbohydrates; the most abundant are amylopectin (≈70–80 wt% of starch) and amylose1 (the remaining ≈20–30 wt%). Both constituents are made up of chains of α-D-glucopyranosyl units. The difference between the two is that amylopectin is a branched-chain polymer that contains 1→4 and 1→6 α-D-glucopyranosyl linkages. Amylose is a helical polymer with only 1→4 α-D-glucopyranosyl linkages.
Amylopectin and amylose are insoluble in water; but as starch they do an excellent job of thickening and stabilizing water-based mixtures such as gravy, sauces, and soups. Amylopectin has excellent film-forming properties and is used to make edible food coatings. Its presence in starch also makes it useful for sizing textiles; it adds rigidity by reordering into crystalline structures. Science Direct has more information about the chemistry and uses of amylopectin.
When you’re preparing your favorite gravy recipe for your Thanksgiving stuffing, remember that it’s the amylopectin that makes it possible.

Chemical properties

a-amylase substrate

The Uses of AMYLOPECTIN

Amylopectin is a glucose-based, highly-branched polysaccharide which together with amylose makes starch. The glucosidic bonds of amylopectin are α-1,4 in the glucan chain and α-1,6 at the branch points. Amylopectin from maize differs in structure form amylopectin from other plant species and is used in the study of the development of starches.

The Uses of AMYLOPECTIN

immune-modulating glucan with reported potential in immunotherapy of chronic hepatitis, diseases of the digestive and respiratory systems, anti-tumor activity for breast, cervical, liver and uterine cancers.

Definition

The outer, almost insoluble portion of starch granules. It is a hexosan, a polymer of glucose, and is a branched molecule of many glucose units. It stains violet with iodine and forms a paste with water.

Definition

The waterinsoluble fraction of STARCH.

Definition

amylopectin: A polysaccharide comprising highly branched chains of glucose molecules. It is one of the constituents (the other being amylose) of starch.

General Description

α-1,4-glucan with α-1,6-cross-linking; one terminal group per 25 glucose units

Agricultural Uses

Amylopectin is a polysaccharide consisting of various proportions of two glucose units joined by 1-4 linkages. The positions are where the two glucose units are linked to form the corresponding polymer. Amylose and amylopectin are examples of this polysaccharide. Amylopectin is less soluble in water and gives red or purple color with iodine.