Potato starch is starch extracted from potatoes. The cells of the root tubers 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 100μm. 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 ppmphosphate bound to the starch; this increases the viscosity and gives the solution a slightly anionic character, a low gelatinisation temperature of approximately 60°C (140°F),[1] and high swelling power.
These properties are used in food and technical applications.[2]
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.[citation needed]
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, the waxy potato starch. Waxy starches, after starch gelatinisation, retrograde less during storage.[citation needed]
The cultivation of potatoes for starch mainly takes place in Germany, the Netherlands, China, Japan,[6] France, Denmark, and Poland, but also in Sweden, Finland, Austria, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Canada, and India.[citation needed]
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.[7]
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 30μm to 100μm in size but occasionally exceeding 100μm, or rounded, 10μm to 35μm in size. Starch granules exhibit characteristic dark crosses in polarized light. If potato starch is wetted it becomes sticky.[citation needed]
In Japan, potato starch is called katakuriko (from katakuri "Erythronium japonicum", and ko "powder"), which refers to the starch from the Erythronium japonicum bulb. Because of its small quantity and high price, starch from E. japonicum is no longer common; potato starch has almost taken its place nowadays and only the name remains.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Potato_starch, and is written by contributors.
Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.