Potato starch is

starch Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of numerous glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by most green plants for energy storage. Worldwide, it is the most common carbohydrate in human diets ...

extracted from

potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Un ...

es. The cells of the root

tuber Tubers are a type of enlarged structure used as storage organs for nutrients in some plants. They are used for the plant's perennation (survival of the winter or dry months), to provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growin ...

s of the potato plant contain leucoplasts (starch grains). To extract the starch, the potatoes are crushed, and the starch grains are released from the destroyed cells. The starch is then left to settle out of solution or separated by hydrocyclones, then dried to powder. Potato starch contains typical large oval spherical granules ranging in size from 5 to 100

μm The micrometre ( international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: μm) or micrometer (American spelling), also commonly known as a micron, is a unit of length in the International System of Unit ...

. Potato starch is a refined starch, containing minimal protein or fat. This gives the powder a clear white colour, and the cooked starch typical characteristics of neutral taste, good clarity, high binding strength, long texture, and minimal tendency to foaming or yellowing of the solution. Potato starch contains approximately 800 ppm

phosphate In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthophosphoric acid . The phosphate or orthophosphate ion is derived from phosph ...

bound to the starch; this increases the viscosity and gives the solution a slightly

anion An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge. The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by conve ...

ic character, a low gelatinisation temperature of approximately , and high swelling power. These properties are used in food and technical applications.

Use

Starch derivatives are used in many cooking recipes, for example in noodles, wine gums, cocktail nuts, potato chips, hot dog sausages, bakery cream and instant soups and sauces, in gluten-free recipes, in kosher foods for

Passover Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holiday that celebrates the Biblical story of the Israelites escape from slavery in Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan, the first month of Aviv, or spring. ...

and in

Asian cuisine Asian cuisine includes several major regional cuisines: Central Asian, East Asian, North Asian, South Asian, Southeast Asian, and West Asian. A cuisine is a characteristic style of cooking practices and traditions, usually associated wit ...

. In

pastry Pastry is baked food made with a dough of flour, water and shortening (solid fats, including butter or lard) that may be savoury or sweetened. Sweetened pastries are often described as '' bakers' confectionery''. The word "pastries" suggests ...

, e.g. sponge cake, it is used to keep the cake moist and give a soft texture. It is also occasionally used in the preparation of pre-packed grated cheese, to reduce sweating and binding. Other examples are ''

helmipuuro Helmipuuro (Finnish) is a type of porridge Porridge is a food made by heating or boiling ground, crushed or chopped starchy plants, typically grain, in milk or water. It is often cooked or served with added flavourings such as sugar, honey, ( ...

'', a porridge made from monodisperse grains of potato starch and

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modulati ...

, and '' papeda'' (the Moluccan community in the Netherlands uses potato starch to make ''papeda''). It is also used in non-food applications as

wallpaper adhesive Adhesive flakes that are mixed with water to produce wallpaper paste Wallpaper adhesive or wallpaper paste is a specific adhesive, based on modified starch, methylcellulose, or clay used to fix wallpaper to walls. Wallpaper pastes have a typica ...

, for textile finishing and textile sizing, in paper coating and

sizing Sizing or size is a substance that is applied to, or incorporated into, other materials—especially papers and textiles—to act as a protective filler or glaze. Sizing is used in papermaking and textile manufacturing to change the absorption ...

, and as an adhesive in paper sacks and gummed tape. Potato starch was also used in one of the earlier color photography processes, the Lumière brothers' Autochrome Lumière, until the arrival of other colour film processes in the mid-1930s.

Potato varieties

Many types of potatoes are grown for the production of potato starch, potato varieties with high starch content and high starch yields are selected. Recently, a new type of potato plant was developed that only contains one type of starch molecule:

amylopectin Amylopectin is a water-insoluble polysaccharide and highly branched polymer of α- glucose units found in plants. It is one of the two components of starch, the other being amylose. Plants store starch within specialized organelles called amyl ...

, the waxy potato starch. Waxy starches, after starch gelatinisation, retrograde less during storage. The cultivation of potatoes for starch mainly takes place in Germany, the Netherlands, China, Japan, France, Denmark, and Poland, but also in Sweden, Finland, Austria, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Canada, and India. Some potato starch is also produced as a byproduct from the potato processing industry, recovered from the potato cutting circuit during the production of French fries and potato chips.

Identification

Examined under a microscope using a mixture of equal volumes of glycerol and distilled water, potato starch presents transparent, colorless granules, either irregularly shaped, ovoid or pear-shaped, usually 30 μm to 100 μm in size but occasionally exceeding 100 μm, or rounded, 10 μm to 35 μm in size. Starch granules exhibit characteristic dark crosses in polarized light. If potato starch is wetted it becomes sticky.

References

External links

Memorandum on potato starch, International Starch Institute

Potato starch gelatinization film, Youtube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Potato Starch Potatoes Edible thickening agents Starch Passover foods

Use

Potato varieties

Identification

See also

References

External links