Physicochemical Characteristics of Starches in Rice Cultivars of Diverse Amylose Contents

Through the sampling four rice cultivars with differing amylose contents, the relationship between the structural and gelatinization properties of endosperm starches was analyzed. These rice varieties exhibited different chain length distribution ratio within the amylopectin cluster as well as varing amylose levels. The proportion of amylopectin short chains of in Goami cutlivars was higher than the other varieties, whereas the Goami 2 which shows amylose extender mutant properties in the endosperm showed the highest proportion of long chains. In X-ray diffraction analysis of rice starches, the Goami 2 variety displayed a B-type pattern whereas the other varieties were all A-type. Among the cultivars with high and normal rice starch levels, those with the higher amylose contents showed distinctly lower swelling. Goami 2 rice was found to have the highest onset and peak gelatinization temperature from the differential scanning calorimetry results. The four rice cultivars under analysis also showed different rates of hydrolysis by amyloglucosidase. These findings suggest that the composition and chemical structure of the starch content is a major determinant of both the gelatinization and functional properties of rice.