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Amylopectin

 
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Amylopectin
 
 
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Amylopectin (pronounced ) is a highly branched polymer
Polymer

A polymer is a large molecule composed of repeating structural units typically connected by covalent chemical bonds. While polymer in popular usage suggests plastic, the term actually refers to a large class of natural and synthetic materials with a variety of properties....
 of glucose
Glucose

Glucose , a monosaccharide also known as grape sugar, blood sugar, or corn sugar, is a very important carbohydrate in biology....
 found in plants. It is one of the two components of starch
Starch

File:Amylose2.svgFile:Amylopektin Sessel.svgStarch or amylum is a polysaccharide carbohydrate consisting of a large number of glucose units joined together by glycosidic bonds....
, the other being amylose
Amylose

Amylose is a linear polymer of glucose linked mainly by a bonds. It can be made of several thousand glucose units. It is one of the two components of starch, the other being amylopectin....
. It is soluble in water.

Glucose units are linked in a linear way with a(1?4) bonds. Branching takes place with a(1?6) bonds occurring every 24 to 30 glucose units.

Its counterpart in animals is glycogen
Glycogen

Glycogen is a polysaccharide of glucose which functions as the secondary short term energy storage in animal cells. It is made primarily by the liver and the muscles, but can also be made by the brain and stomach....
 which has the same composition and structure, but with more extensive branching that occurs every 8 to 12 glucose units.

Plants store starch within specialized organelles called amyloplasts.






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Amylopectin (pronounced ) is a highly branched polymer
Polymer

A polymer is a large molecule composed of repeating structural units typically connected by covalent chemical bonds. While polymer in popular usage suggests plastic, the term actually refers to a large class of natural and synthetic materials with a variety of properties....
 of glucose
Glucose

Glucose , a monosaccharide also known as grape sugar, blood sugar, or corn sugar, is a very important carbohydrate in biology....
 found in plants. It is one of the two components of starch
Starch

File:Amylose2.svgFile:Amylopektin Sessel.svgStarch or amylum is a polysaccharide carbohydrate consisting of a large number of glucose units joined together by glycosidic bonds....
, the other being amylose
Amylose

Amylose is a linear polymer of glucose linked mainly by a bonds. It can be made of several thousand glucose units. It is one of the two components of starch, the other being amylopectin....
. It is soluble in water.

Glucose units are linked in a linear way with a(1?4) bonds. Branching takes place with a(1?6) bonds occurring every 24 to 30 glucose units.

Its counterpart in animals is glycogen
Glycogen

Glycogen is a polysaccharide of glucose which functions as the secondary short term energy storage in animal cells. It is made primarily by the liver and the muscles, but can also be made by the brain and stomach....
 which has the same composition and structure, but with more extensive branching that occurs every 8 to 12 glucose units.

Plants store starch within specialized organelles called amyloplasts. When energy
Energy

In physics, energy is a scalar physical quantity that describes the amount of Work_ that can be performed by a force. Energy is an attribute of objects and systems that is subject to a conservation law....
 is needed for cell
Cell (biology)

The cell is the structural and functional unit of all known Life organisms. It is the smallest unit of an organism that is classified as living, and is often called the building bricks of life....
 work, the plant hydrolyzes the starch releasing the glucose subunits. Humans and other animals that eat plant foods also have enzymes to hydrolyze starch.

Starch is made of about 70% amylopectin by weight, though it varies depending on the source (higher in medium-grain rice and waxy potatoes, lower in long-grain rice and russet potatoes, for example). Amylopectin is highly branched, being formed of 2,000 to 200,000 glucose units. Its inner chains are formed of 20-24 glucose subunits.

See also