Fine Structure of Mung Bean Starch: An Improved Method of Fractionation

Abstract

AbstractLaboratory isolated mung bean starch was fractionated into its amylose and amylopectin components using a modified procedure. The resulting products were shown to be both homogeneous and more susceptible to the hydrolyzing enzymes commonly used for structural analysis. The fine structure of the fractions was investigated using hydrolytic enzymes, chemical analysis and gel filtration chromatography. Differences in amylose/amylopectin fractions isolated by the modified and conventional extraction procedures were apparent. The unit chain length of amylopectin, DPn and limiting viscosity number of amylose were all lower for samples isolated by the modified method. In contrast the enzymatic hydrolysis of both the amylose and amylopectin fractions was improved for the material extracted by the modified method, low levels of branching and a unit chain distribution by gel filtration chromatography of the two overlapping populations with average degree of polymerization of 42 and 14 was obtained.