Abstract:

As two major constituents of starch, amylose and amylopectin are distinct in both molecular structures and molecular aggregation, which results in dissimilarity in their physico-chemical properties. Consequently, the application performance of starch is variable due to the ratio of amylose and amylopectin. Current progress in characterization such as purity, molecular structure, relative molecular weight, crystal characteristics, thermal enthalpy and viscosity of amylose and amylopectin has been reviewed in this paper, which will provide meaningful references for further investigations of structural and physicochemical characterization as well as the application of amylose and amylopectin.

Key words: amylose, amylopectin, characterization, physicochemical property