Amylopectin, dominant in most starch kinds, is a branched
polymer of substantially larger size than amylose. Amylopectin
consists of α-1,4-bonded glucose segments, linked by α-1,6
bonds at the branching sites (Fig. 4). Estimates are that around
4–6% of bonds in a standard amylopectin molecule appear to
be α-1,6 links, which results in over 20,000 branchings in a
molecule, although the branchings are not large. Studies suggest
a bimodal size distribution of polymer chains, namely
small and large chains. Small chains have an average degree
of polymerization of about 15, whereas the bigger chains have
degree of polymerization values of around 45. This unique
configuration contributes to the crystalline nature of amylopectin
and to ordered arrangements of amylopectin molecules
within the starch granule. The branched chains of amylopectin
behave just like those of amylose, but in the case of amylopectin,
whole chains or more often their fragments can be twisted
spirally