Screening for High-Amylose Corn Genotypes using
Differential Scanning
Calorimetry of Native Starch
Nate Polaske.
Dr. Mark Campbell, Faculty Mentor.
Many methods for screening starch amylose/amylopectin ratios are currently in practice today. While nearly all methods successfully estimate the ratios over a wide sample range, few methods are able to rapidly differentiate between a narrow sample range with the desired precision. Therefore, our objective has been to develop a method for screening amylose content in native starch samples ranging between 50 and 80% amylose using a differential scanning calorimeter technique (DSC) based on quantifying the size of the endotherm of the annealing of amylose and L-α-lysophosphotidylcholine. Another important aspect of the study is to show that the method is suitable for native starches since previous studies have concentrated primarily on solubilized starches.