抄録
Starch seems to be a simple material because it contains only glucose. However, we do not yet fully understand even its primary structure. According to many recent studies on the structure, starch has four levels of structures: fine, crystal, blocklet and ultra-structures (granular architecture). We have gathered the major hypotheses and the data regarding starch structure and behavior, and demonstrated comprehensively the blocklet concept, the blocklet proof, blocklet architecture and the blocklet arrangement in the granules in this review. In the architecture of blocklet and granular ultra-structure, the roles of the starch molecules such as amylopectin, amylose and intermediate materials, the non-starch molecules such as bound phosphates and lipids, and the crystal dimensions etc., are different. The amylopectin plays a main role in blocklet architecture, while the other components may be important in contributing to the strength and flexibility of the starch granule. The two types of blocklet, normal and defective blocklets, may arrange into the two formations, heterogeneous shell and homogenous shell from the viewpoint of the physicochemical properties of the starch granules.
