Amylose is a carbohydrate made up of between 100 to 1000 D-glucose monomers linked by α(1->4) glucosidic bonds. It can be thought of as a sort of larger, bulky version of maltose. Amyloses are important in the formation of starches like amylopectin, which are used in plants and animals for energy storage. They connect in branched structures through further α(1->4) linkages.
One of two types of glucose polymers that together make up starch. (Amylopectin is the other type.) Amylose is the portion of starch that is soluble in water. The chemical structure of amylose is very similar to that of cellulose.
From the BioTech Dictionary at http://biotech.icmb.utexas.edu/. For further information see the BioTech homenode.
Am`y*lose" (#), n. Chem.
One of the starch group (C6H10O5)n of the carbohydrates; as, starch, arabin, dextrin, cellulose, etc.
© Webster 1913.
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