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X-Ray Fibre Pattern of Part of a Single Starch Grain : Powder Photographs of Potato, Wheat and Arrowroot (Maranta) Starch

Abstract

ATTEMPTS to elucidate the crystal structure of native starch by means of X-ray diffraction have hitherto failed on account of difficulties due to the small size of the starch grains and their radially arranged crystallites. These circumstances have made it impossible to obtain the so-called fibre pattern of native starch, which is necessary in calculating the net parameters in substances of high polymer nature like this and which has led to a clear picture of the structures of the two related substances, cellulose and chitin.

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KREGER, D. X-Ray Fibre Pattern of Part of a Single Starch Grain : Powder Photographs of Potato, Wheat and Arrowroot (Maranta) Starch. Nature 158, 199–200 (1946). https://doi.org/10.1038/158199b0

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