Examination of molar-based distribution of A, B and C chains of amylopectin by fluorescent labeling with 2-aminopyridine

A method for determination of a molar-based distribution of A, B and C chains of amylopectin was developed. Labeling with fluorescent 2-aminopyridine was proportional to the number-average degree of polymerization (dp(n)) of the chains in the range of 6-440. Number-average chain lengths (cl(n)) of amylopectins from six different plant sources (rice, maize, wheat, potato, sweet potato and yam) determined by the labeling method were in good agreement with values obtained by determination of non-reducing residues. The molar-based distributions were polymodal (A, B-1 and B-2 + B-3 fractions) and characteristic to botanical sources. Amylopectins from starches with A-crystalline type had higher amount of A + B-1 chains (90-93% by mole) than starches with B-type (68-87%). Molar ratios of (A + B-1)/(B-2 + B-3) were 8.9-12.9 for the A-type starches and 2.1-6.5 for the B-type starches, suggesting that amylopectins of A-type starches had 1.5-2 times more branches per cluster than B-type. The distributions of C chains, except for amylomaize, showed a broad, asymmetrical profile from dp similar to 10 to similar to 130 with a peak at dp similar to 40 and were very similar among botanical sources, suggesting that the biosynthetic process for C chains is similar in different plant species. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.