Structure of building blocks in amylopectins Original Research Article

Building blocks represent the smallest, branched units found inside clusters of amylopectins. The building blocks from clusters of 10 different amylopectins, representing a wide variety of plants, were isolated and size-fractionated. The unit chain compositions were then analysed. It was found that the number of chains in building blocks increased in proportion to their size similarly in all samples regardless plant source. The smallest blocks (DP 5–9) consisted of 2 chains and the largest blocks (DP ⩾45), of which generally only little existed, possessed ⩾10 chains. Generally, the degree of branching increased with building block size, but the organisation of chains inside the blocks was unique for each sample. Nevertheless, compared to other plants, amylopectins from cereals (represented by rye, oats, rice and waxy maize) possessing elevated number of the shortest internal B-chains (DP 3–7), tended to have blocks with a lower ratio of A:B-chains, indicative of a preferred Haworth type of structure as opposed to the Staudinger configuration.