Starches: Characterization

Starch is one of the major polysaccharides employed as biopolymers by the food, textile, and paper industries. Its wide range of applications has resulted in intense research of starch structure and technology. This book covers starch structure, chemistry, and technology. After an overview of new trends in starch applications, modified starches, and enzymes used in the starch industry, the text presents recent advances in the study of starch structures. It also covers biodegradation of starch blends, starch nano-composites, and polymer biodegradability. It provides up-to-date methods of starch characterization, including the use of atomic force microscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance.