Perspectives on the history of research on starch

Starch has been used over several millennia for a number of different applications. However, research on understanding this substance only spans about three centuries starting with Leeuwenhoek who observed it microscopically as discrete granules in 1716. This story of discovery of the molecular structure and architectural makeup of starch will be chronicled in a series of six essays of which this is the first with a focus on the molecular linkages in starch. The principally simple molecular constitution of starch is well known to everyone at this time. However, the researchers that contributed to this knowledge found the substance to be extraordinarily mysterious and the history of research on the molecular constitution of starch spans over several centuries. Starch had been used for thousands of years, which expanded in the early 19th century when it was discovered that it could be transformed into sugars by hydrolysis in dilute sulfuric acid. It took, however, still more than a century before the nature and the true molecular structure of the basic monomeric unit was established. Only after this, was it possible to clarify the nature of the glycosidic linkages in starch.