Structural investigations and morphology of tomato fruit starch.

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.