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Updated: Jan 11, 2026

Characterizing Individual Protein Aggregates by Infrared Nanospectroscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy
Published on: September 12, 2019
Association of Natural Amylose into Different Forms of Aggregates: Structure and Potential Mechanisms
Changhui Shao1,2, Jinglin Yu1, Les Copeland3
1State Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Safety, Tianjin University of Science & Technology, Tianjin 300457, China.
Abstract:
The aggregated structure of natural amylose (AM) plays an important role in the functionality of starch. However, the formation and structure of such AM aggregates remain to be elucidated. In this study, four forms of AM (amorphous AM, retrograded AM, ethanol-precipitated crystalline AM, and AM-lauric acid (LA) complexes) were characterized to distinguish differences in their structures. Amorphous AM was characterized as having no short- and long-range molecular order, whereas retrograded AM contained imperfect B-type crystalline structures made up of some stacked double helical segments of AM chains. Both ethanol-precipitated crystalline AM and AM-LA complexes showed a V-type crystalline structure, which was formed by the arrangement of AM single helices that were empty or had encapsulated LA, respectively. This study provides fresh insights into the formation and structure of four forms of AM aggregates, which have significance for a better understanding of the role of AM aggregates in starch functionality for applications.
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