Answer:
Starch consists of two components, (i)
amylose and (ii) amylopectin. Although, both these components are made up of \[\alpha
\]-D-glucose units yet they differ in the manner in which the different \[\alpha
\]-D-glucose units are linked to one another.
Amylose is a linear condensation polymer
of \[\alpha \] D-glucose in which \[{{C}_{1}}\] of one glucose unit is attached
to \[{{C}_{4}}\] of the other through \[\alpha \]-glycosidic linkage as shown
in Fig. 14.8, page 14/15.
Amylopectin, on the other
hand, is a highly branched polymer. It consists of a large number (several hundreds)
of short chains each containing 20-25 glucose units which are joined together
through \[\alpha \]-glycosidic linkages involving \[{{C}_{1}}\] of one glucose
unit with \[{{C}_{4}}\] of the other. The \[{{C}_{1}}\] of terminal glucose
unit in each chain is further linked to \[{{C}_{6}}\] of some other glucose
unit in the next chain through \[{{C}_{1}}-{{C}_{6}}\,\alpha -\]glycosidic linkage.
This gives amylopectin a highly branched structure as shown in Fig. 14.9, page
14/15.
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