Current and future challenges in starch research

Even though starch seems a simple carbohydrate, composed only of glucose connected by two types of linkages, it has an amazing complexity related to its branched structure and extremely large size. Today, there are still unanswered questions that present challenges to the starch research field. Even though advances have been made in correlating starch amylopectin and amylose fine structural feature to functional properties, such as texture or digestibility, the form of the internal architecture of amylopectin is still not agreed upon. The future holds challenges in further resolving structure-function relationships of starch, and to understand and implement ways to improve the healthiness of starchy foods.