2001 AACC Annual Meeting Charlotte, North Carolina October 14-18, 2001 Charlotte Convention Center

Teosinte has long been considered the genetic ancestor of contemporary maize. Many researchers have investigated the genetic link between teosinte and maize, but few have compared their starches. This study examined the structure and functionality of teosinte starch as compared to normal maize starch, and the effects of crossbreeding teosinte with BSSS maize. Scanning electron micrographs showed that teosinte starch granules had irregular polygonal shapes common to maize granules but some surfaces appeared gouged. X-ray diffraction patterns were A-type for all starches. Pasting properties, determined by RapidVisco Analyzer, showed that teosinte starch had lower peak viscosity, holding strength and final viscosity than did normal maize starch. Gelatinization onset, determined by differential scanning calorimetry, occurred at 61.3°C for teosinte starch, 67.7°C for normal maize starch, and teosinte starch retrograded more readily. Molecular weight, determined by high performance size exclusion chromatography equipped with laser light scattering and refractive index detectors, was (1.51 × 10(^8)) and (1.32 × 10(^8)) for teosinte and BSSS maize amylopectin, respectively. Branch chain length distribution, determined with high performance anion exchange chromatography equipped with an enzyme column and a pulsed amperomeric detector, showed that teosinte starch had a slightly higher percentage of short branch chains than normal maize starch.