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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Peoria, Illinois » National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research » Plant Polymer Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #78405
Title: BRANCHING AND MOLECULAR WEIGHT ANALYSIS OF STARCH VIA NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE

Author
item Dunn Jr, Larson
item KRUEGER, WILLIAM - UNIV OF ILLINOIS URBANA

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/15/1997
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: An optimized method recently developed to quantify the degree of branching in alpha-glucans using proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) will be described in terms of instrument parameters and sample preparation. The method was used to determine relative amounts of amylose and amylopectin in starch samples from a variety of sources, with good correlation to iodine binding-based analyses. In the process of these amylose/amylopectin determinations, it was observed that there is apparently more than one type of amylopectin, based on its degree of branching. New terminology is proposed to describe the different types of amylopectin. In addition, the new branching degree method was used to determine the number average molecular weight of various maltodextrins and starches, with comparisons to other commonly used methods. Finally, attempts were made to correlate branching fraction of starch samples to other starch properties, such as cooking behavior and viscosities, to generate the maximum information possible about a starch sample from a single, fast type of analysis.