Cereal Chem 69:284-288   |  VIEW ARTICLE

Surface Pores of Starch Granules.

J. E. Fannon, R. J. Hauber, and J. N. BeMiller. Copyright 1992 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

Some but not all granules of corn (all cultivars and all developmental stages examined), sorghum, and millet starches have small openings (pores) randomly distributed over their surfaces, often in clusters and to different degrees. The pores are normal, real, anatomical features of the native granule structure and are not artifacts produced by the isolation, specimen preparation, or observation techniques used. Pores also were found along the equatorial groove of large granules of wheat, rye, and barley starches but not on other starches (rice, oat, potato, tapioca, arrowroot, canna). It is proposed that the pores affect the pattern of attack by amylases and by at least some chemical reagents.