The amylose and lipid contents, dimensions, and gelatinisation characteristics of some wheat starches and their A‐ and B‐granule fractions

Starches isolated from 23 bread wheats ( Triticum aestivum ) and 26 durum wheats ( T. durum ) contained 26.3‐30.6% (mean 29.1%) total amylose, 19.3–25.1% (mean 22.9%) apparent amylose and 783–1144mg 100g −1 (mean 977 mg 100g −1 ) lysophos‐pholipids. Gelatinisation temperatures were 57.3–64.9°C (mean 61.8°C) and enthalpies 6.4–11.8 Jg −1 (mean 9.7Jg −1 ) in excess water, measured by differential scanning calorimetry. There were no correlations between any of these parameters. Starch granule size distributions were determined with a Coulter Counter and 100–channel analyser. A‐granule mean volumes were 1235–2585μm 3 (av. 1778), modal volumes 863–1804μm 3 (av. 1264), mean diameters 13.9–16.0μm (av. 13.99), and specific surface areas 0.236–0.302m 2 g −1 . B‐granule mean volumes were 35.4–100.4μm 3 (av. 55.9), modal volumes 16.5–54.5μm 3 (av. 27.7), mean diameters 3.66–5.07μm (av. 4.09), and specific surface areas 0.684–0.920m 2 g −1 . The B‐granule contents of the starches were 12.8–34.6% (av. 27.3) by weight (sedimentation method) and 13.0–37.3% (av. 24.0) by volume (Coulter method), the latter being the more accurate method.