Background

Starch is a complex branched glucose polymer, mainly comprising amylose and amylopectin. The number of individual chains as a function of the number of monomer units they contain, i.e. the chain-length distributions (CLDs), are controlled by the underlying biosynthetic process occurring during plant growth. CLDs are currently commonly related to biosynthetic processes and to functional properties by dividing into arbitrarily chosen regions. However, this empiricism is not completely satisfactory: conclusions can depend on the choice of division. Biosynthesis-based models replacing this arbitrary division by model-based parameterization have been developed, but are presently rarely used, because of the complex underlying mathematics.

Scope and approach

These models are summarized in non-mathematical language. These give information on the biosynthetic processes producing the starch, and yield a parameterization of CLD data to give a fit that is essentially the same as experiment. Additionally, the models are sufficiently flexible that they can also fit data for modified starches. This enables the whole CLDs for both amylose and amylopectin as a small number of parameters which can be used to find statistically-valid structure-property relations.

Key findings and conclusions

The underlying theory and data-fitting methodology can be used both to better understand starch biosynthesis, to see what structural features control functional properties and to deduce mechanisms for observed correlations. This enables raw materials to be chosen in non-empirical ways to select and process grains and other starch sources for improved foods and other products.

中文翻译：

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利用淀粉分子的精细结构了解生物合成-结构-性质的关系

背景

淀粉是复杂的支链葡萄糖聚合物，主要包含直链淀粉和支链淀粉。各个链的数量与它们所包含的单体单元的数量有关，即链长分布（CLD），由植物生长过程中发生的潜在生物合成过程控制。通过划分为任意选择的区域，CLD当前通常与生物合成过程和功能特性有关。但是，这种经验主义并不完全令人满意：结论可以取决于部门的选择。已经开发出了基于生物合成的模型，该模型通过基于模型的参数化代替了这种任意划分，但由于基础数学的复杂性，目前很少使用。

范围和方法

这些模型以非数学语言概括。这些给出了生产淀粉的生物合成过程的信息，并产生了CLD数据的参数化结果，从而得出与实验基本相同的拟合度。此外，模型具有足够的灵活性，它们也可以拟合改性淀粉的数据。这使直链淀粉和支链淀粉的整个CLD成为少数参数，可用于查找统计上有效的结构-属性关系。

主要发现和结论

基础理论和数据拟合方法学可用于更好地了解淀粉的生物合成，查看哪些结构特征控制功能特性以及推导观察相关性的机制。这使得能够以非经验的方式选择原材料，以选择和加工谷物和其他淀粉来源，以改善食品和其他产品。