ABSTRACT
Starch is widely distributed throughout the plant kingdom and may be considered a counterpart of glycogen in the animal kingdom. It exists as the major reserve carbohydrate of most higher plants, especially in the tuber crops. The starch in tuber crops exists relatively free from lipids and proteins, and hence its extraction and purification are relatively simple. The high starch content from cassava, which can be grown under low management conditions, makes it an important industrial crop in addition to being a calorie-rich food crop. The molecular weight of amylopectin from different starches is almost the same by light scattering techniques. It has been observed that during growth, starch content and average granule size of the two components increase and the granules grow by apposition, in successive and gradual addition, of new polysaccharides from the outside.
