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Six facts about starch
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  • Starch is made up of long chains of glucose molecules. The chains can be branched.

  • Starch is compact, forms an approximately spherical shape and is insoluble.

  • The bonds between glucose monomers can be broken by hydrolysis carried out by an enzyme.

  • Starch is indicated by testing with iodine. A blue-black colour is given.

  • Glycogen has a similar structure to starch. It is formed in animal cells. It has many more branches than starch.
The glycosidic bond is broken by inserting water. This is carried out by a carbohydrase enzyme such as amylase.