Structural Investigations and Morphology of Tomato Fruit Starch

Abstract

The physicochemical properties of starch from tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) pericarp and columella of cv. Moneymaker fruit at 28 days post anthesis (DPA) were investigated, providing the first description of the composition and structure of tomato fruit starch. Starch granules from pericarp were mainly polygonal, 13.5-14.3 microm, and increased in size through development, being largest in ripening fruit. Amylopectin content was 81-83% and was of molecular weight 1.01 x 10(8) g/mol; the phosphorus content was 139 ppm, and starch showed a C-type pattern with crystallinity of 30%. Starch characteristics were similar in columella except granule size (16.8-17.8 microm) and crystallinity (40%), although 6-fold more starch accumulated in the pericarp. Solara, a high-sugar tomato cultivar, was also studied to determine if this affects starch granule architecture. There were few differences from Moneymaker, except that Solara columella starch crystallinity was lower (26%), and more starch granule-intrinsic proteins could be extracted by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.

Effect of low temperature storage on fruit physiology and carbohydrate accumulation in tomato ripening-inhibited mutants

“…Ailsa Craig and two near isogenic lines -rin (ripening inhibitor) and nor (non-ripening) mutants were obtained from the Tomato Genetic Resource Centre, University of California-Davis. Plants were grown as described previously (Luengwilai and Beckles, 2009b). Fruit from cv.…”

“…Starch was measured as described by (Luengwilai and Beckles, 2009b). Percentage weight loss was calculated as follows:…”

Seasonal chemical–physical changes of PGI Pachino cherry tomatoes detected by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

“…T 2 (ms) T 1 (ms) investigation (Luengwilai & Beckles, 2009) has showed structural differences in starch granules stored in pericarp and columella (primary storage sites in unripe tomato), possible related to different stark carbohydrate metabolism depending on tomato cultivar .…”

An improved approach for evaluating the semicrystalline lamellae of starch granules by synchrotron SAXS

“…There are two kinds of starch polymers, i.e., amylose and amylopectin (Jiang, Gao, Li & Zhang, 2011;Liu, Halley & Gilbert, 2010). These two biopolymers are organized on multiple scales in the starch granule to form its semicrystalline structure, including the whole granule, the growth rings, the semicrystalline lamellae and the crystallites (Buleon, Colonna, Planchot & Ball, 1998;Luengwilai & Beckles, 2009;Perez & Bertoft, 2010;Pikus, 2005;Zhang et al, 2015). The semicrystalline structural features of starch such as crystallinity and lamellar ordering are crucial in the determination of the physicochemical properties, e.g., digestibility (Blazek & Gilbert, 2010;Lopez-Rubio, Flanagan, Shrestha, Gidley & Gilbert, 2008) and thermal behaviors (Liu, Xie, Yu, Chen & Li, 2009;Xie, Halley & Avérous, 2012).…”