Study of Diffusion in Starch Systems by Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) (CAT#: STEM-MT-0032-WXH)

Introduction

Starch is composed of two high molecular weight polymers of glucose: linear amylose and the highly nonrandomly branched and semicrystalline amylopectin. The most commonly encountered physical form of starch when in conventional use is the gelatinized starch paste, which is made up of disrupted granules in a matrix of amylose and amylopectin that gels and eventually retrogrades and crystallizes upon storage.
In all cases, diffusion of the constituent polymer chains and the resulting system viscosity (and especially the way in which this changes as the result of various processing techniques or physical transformations/storage conditions) and the diffusion of smaller trace components and added material (sugars, flavor compounds, enzymes, etc.) are of great significance with regard to the material properties of the starch.