Amylose

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Amylose

Amylose is a linear 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....
linked mainly by a(1?4) bonds. It can be made of several thousand glucose units. 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 amylopectin

Amylopectin

Amylopectin is a highly branched polymer of glucose found in plants. It is one of the two components of starch, the other being amylose. It is soluble in water....
.

The a(1?4) bonds promote the formation of a helix

Helix

A helix is a special kind of space curve, i.e. a Differentiable manifold curve in three-space. As a mental image of a helix one may take the spring ....
structure. The structural formula

Structural formula

The structural formula of a chemical compound is a graphical representation of the molecular structure showing how the atoms are arranged. The chemical bonding within the molecule is also shown, either explicitly or implicitly....
of amylose is pictured at right. The number of repeated glucose subunits (n) can be many thousands (usually in the range of 300 to 3000).

Amylose starch

Starch

Amylopectin

Amylopectin is a highly branched polymer of glucose found in plants. It is one of the two components of starch, the other being amylose. It is soluble in water....
; however, it takes up less space so is preferred for storage in plants: it mais a fat lardf kes-up about 30% of the stored starch in plants.

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Encyclopedia

Amylose is a linear polymer

Polymer

Glucose

Starch

Amylopectin

Helix

A helix is a special kind of space curve, i.e. a Differentiable manifold curve in three-space. As a mental image of a helix one may take the spring ....
structure. The structural formula

Structural formula

Starch

Amylopectin

Amylase

Amylase is an enzyme that breaks starch down into sugar. Amylase is present in human saliva, where it begins the chemical process of digestion....
works on the ends of the starch molecule, breaking it down into sugars.

Iodine

Iodine

Iodine , is a chemical element that has the symbol I and atomic number 53. Naturally-occurring iodine is a single isotope with 74 neutrons....
molecules fit neatly inside the helical structure

Helix

A helix is a special kind of space curve, i.e. a Differentiable manifold curve in three-space. As a mental image of a helix one may take the spring ....
of amylose, binding with the starch polymer that absorbs certain known wavelengths of light. Hence, a common test for starch is to mix it with a small amount of yellow iodine solution. In the presence of amylose, a blue-black color will be observed. The intensity of the color can be tested with a colorimeter

Colorimeter

A colorimeter, an instrument used in colorimetry, can refer to one of several related devices.* In scientific fields the word generally refers to the device that measures the absorbance of particular wavelengths of light by a specific solution....
, using a red filter to discern the concentration of starch present in the solution.

High-amylose varieties of rice

Rice

Rice is a staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in tropical Latin America, and East Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia, making it the second-most consumed cereal grain, after maize....
have a much lower glycemic load

Glycemic load

The glycemic load is a ranking system for carbohydrate content in food portions based on their glycemic index and the portion size.The usefulness of glycemic load is based on the idea that a high glycemic index food consumed in small quantities would give the same effect as larger quantities of a low glycemic index food on blood sugar....
, which could be beneficial for diabetics.

Amylose

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