ABSTRACT
Among the natural polymers, starch is of interest. Starch is the second most abundant natural polymer after cellulose which is derived from renewable resources such as corn, wheat, potato, tapioca, and legumes. Starch occurs as granules in plant tissue, from which it can easily be recovered in large quantities. Due to its unique physical and chemical characteristics, starch is increasingly viewed as a potential sustainable alternative to many petroleum-based polymers. Many efforts have been made to develop starch-based polymers for reducing environmental impact and in searching more applications. Particularly, two features in a starch molecule make it a unique and versatile material. First, starch is naturally biodegradable and degrades into sugars and organic acids that serve as feedstock for manufacturing many industrial chemicals, thermoplastics, and biofuels. Second, due to its chemical structure, the starch polymer is amenable to a variety of chemical and enzymatic modiŠcations that permits creating new and novel functionalities in starch polymer.
