ABSTRACT
Various levels of organization make up the starch granule: the cluster of amylopectin molecules (0.1–1 nm), the lamella (10 nm), the blocklet (20–250 nm) and the whole granule. Amylopectin molecules are closely packed together to form clusters of double helices. The crystalline lamella is created by the association of amylopectin double helices interspersed with amorphous regions. The blocklet is the ordered aggregation of several lamellae into a asymmetric structure. The ordered aggregation of blocklets forms the concentric rings of hard and soft shells in the starch granule. Two models are described, namely the cluster model and the building block backbone model. Attention is drawn to the application of phyllotactic rules to the architecture of blocklets.
