| Abstract from DBPedia | Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of numerous glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by most green plants for energy storage. Worldwide, it is the most common carbohydrate in human diets, and is contained in large amounts in staple foods such as wheat, potatoes, maize (corn), rice, and cassava (manioc). Pure starch is a white, tasteless and odorless powder that is insoluble in cold water or alcohol. It consists of two types of molecules: the linear and helical amylose and the branched amylopectin. Depending on the plant, starch generally contains 20 to 25% amylose and 75 to 80% amylopectin by weight. Glycogen, the energy reserve of animals, is a more highly branched version of amylopectin. In industry, starch is converted into sugars, for example by malting, and fermented to produce ethanol in the manufacture of beer, whisky and biofuel. It is processed to produce many of the sugars used in processed foods. Mixing most starches in warm water produces a paste, such as wheatpaste, which can be used as a thickening, stiffening or gluing agent. The greatest industrial non-food use of starch is as an adhesive in the papermaking process. § Clothing starch can be applied to certain textile goods before ironing, to stiffen them.デンプン（澱粉、ラテン語: amylum、英語: starch）とは、化学式 (C6H10O5)n の炭水化物（多糖類）で、多数のα-グルコース分子がグリコシド結合によって重合した天然高分子化合物である。構成単位であるグルコースとは異なる性質を示す。陸上植物におけるグルコース貯蔵の一形態であり、種子や球根などに多く含まれている。 デンプンは植物が光合成によって体内（実や根など）に貯蔵した炭水化物で、工業上はそれを精製した製品をいう。デンプンの特性は起源となった植物の種類によりかなり異なる。代表的なデンプンにカタクリ（市場に流通する多くの製品では馬鈴薯）を原料とする片栗粉やトウモロコシを原料とするコーンスターチなどがある。 (Source: http://dbpedia.org/resource/Starch) |
