ATUL SINGH 16/983

SHUBHAM SINGH 16/654

STARCH
Intrtroduction
Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of a large number
of glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by most
green plants as energy storage. It is the most common carbohydrate in human diets
and is contained in large amounts in staple
foods like potatoes, wheat, maize (corn), rice, and cassava.
Pure starch is a white, tasteless and odorless powder that is insoluble in cold water
or alcohol. It consists of two types of molecules: the linear and helical amylose and
the branched amylopectin. Depending on the plant, starch generally contains 20 to
25% amylose and 75 to 80% amylopectin by weight. [4] Glycogen, the glucose store
of animals, is a more highly branched version of amylopectin.
In industry, starch is converted into sugars, for example by malting,
and fermented to produce ethanol in the manufacture of beer, whisky and biofuel. It
is processed to produce many of the sugars used in processed foods. Mixing most
starches in warm water produces a paste, such as wheatpaste, which can be used as
a thickening, stiffening or gluing agent. The biggest industrial non-food use of starch
is as an adhesive in the papermaking process. Starch can be applied to parts of
some garments before ironing, to stiffen them.

History[edit]
Starch grains from the rhizomes of Typha (cattails, bullrushes) as flour have been
identified from grinding stones in Europe dating back to 30,000 years ago.[6] Starch
grains from sorghum were found on grind stones in caves
in Ngalue, Mozambique dating up to 100,000 years ago.[7]
Pure extracted wheat starch paste was used in Ancient Egypt possibly to
glue papyrus.[8] The extraction of starch is first described in the Natural
History of Pliny the Elder around AD 77–79.[9] Romans used it also in cosmetic
creams, to powder the hair and to thicken sauces. Persians and Indians used it to
make dishes similar to gothumai wheat halva. Rice starch as surface treatment of
paper has been used in paper production in China since 700 CE.[10]

Starch industry[edit]
In addition to starchy plants consumed directly, by 2008 66 million tonnes of starch
were being produced per year worldwide. In 2011 production was increased to 73
million ton. [11]]
In the EU the industry produced abount 8.5 million tonnes in 2008, with around 40%
being used for industrial applications and 60% for food uses, [12] most of the latter
as glucose syrups.[13] In 2017 EU production was 11 million ton of which 9,4 million
ton was consumed in the EU and of which 54% were starch sweeteners. [14]
US produced about 27,5 million ton starch in 2017 of which about 8,2 million
ton high fructose syrup and 6,2 million ton glucose syrups and 2,5 million ton starch
products, the rest of the starch was used for producing ethanol (1,6 billion gallon or
7,3 billion liter of ethanol). [15][16]

Energy store of plants[edit]

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Most green plants use starch as their energy store.The extra glucose is changed into
starch which is more complex than glucose(by plants). An exception is the
family Asteraceae(asters, daisies and sunflowers), where starch is replaced by
the fructan inulin. Inulin-like fructans are also present in grasses such as wheat,
in onions and garlic, bananas, and asparagus.[17]
In photosynthesis, plants use light energy to produce glucose from carbon dioxide.
The glucose is used to generate the chemical energy required for
general metabolism, to make organic compounds such as nucleic
acids, lipids, proteins and structural polysaccharides such as cellulose, or is stored in
the form of starch granules, in amyloplasts. Toward the end of the growing season,
starch accumulates in twigs of trees near the buds. Fruit, seeds, rhizomes,
and tubers store starch to prepare for the next growing season.
Glucose is soluble in water, hydrophilic, binds with water and then takes up much
space and is osmotically active; glucose in the form of starch, on the other hand, is
not soluble, therefore osmotically inactive and can be stored much more compactly.
Glucose molecules are bound in starch by the easily hydrolyzed alpha bonds.

Biosynthesis[edit]
Plants produce starch by first converting glucose 1-phosphate to ADP-glucose using
the enzyme glucose-1-phosphate adenylyltransferase. This step requires energy in
the form of ATP. The enzyme starch synthase then adds the ADP-glucose via a 1,4-
alpha glycosidic bond to a growing chain of glucose residues, liberating ADP and
creating amylose. The ADP-glucose is almost certainly added to the non-reducing
end of the amylose polymer, as the UDP-glucose is added to the non-reducing end of
glycogen during glycogen synthesis.[19]
Starch branching enzyme introduces 1,6-alpha glycosidic bonds between the
amylose chains, creating the branched amylopectin. The starch debranching
enzyme isoamylaseremoves some of these branches. Several isoforms of these
enzymes exist, leading to a highly complex synthesis process.[20]
Glycogen and amylopectin have similar structure, but the former has about one
branch point per ten 1,4-alpha bonds, compared to about one branch point per thirty
1,4-alpha bonds in amylopectin.[21] Amylopectin is synthesized from ADP-glucose
while mammals and fungi synthesize glycogen from UDP-glucose; for most cases,
bacteria synthesize glycogen from ADP-glucose (analogous to starch).[22]
In addition to starch synthesis in plants, starch can be synthesized from non-food
starch mediated by an enzyme cocktail.[23] In this cell-free biosystem, beta-1,4-
glycosidic bond-linked cellulose is partially hydrolyzed to cellobiose. Cellobiose
phosphorylase cleaves to glucose 1-phosphate and glucose; the other enzyme—
potato alpha-glucan phosphorylasecan add a glucose unit from glucose 1-
phosphorylase to the non-reducing ends of starch. In it, phosphate is internally
recycled. The other product, glucose, can be assimilated by a yeast. This cell-free
bioprocessing does not need any costly chemical and energy input, can be
conducted in aqueous solution, and does not have sugar losses.[24][25][26]

Properties[edit]
Structure[edit]

Starch, 800x magnified, under polarized light, showing characteristic extinction cross
 Rice starch seen on light microscope. Characteristic for the rice starch is that starch granules
have an angular outline and some of them are attached to each other and form larger granules

While amylose was thought to be completely unbranched, it is now known that some
of its molecules contain a few branch points.[32]Amylose is a much smaller molecule
than amylopectin. About one quarter of the mass of starch granules in plants consist
of amylose, although there are about 150 times more amylose than amylopectin
molecules.
Starch molecules arrange themselves in the plant in semi-crystalline granules. Each
plant species has a unique starch granular size: rice starch is relatively small (about
2 μm) while potato starches have larger granules (up to 100 μm).
Starch becomes soluble in water when heated. The granules swell and burst, the
semi-crystalline structure is lost and the smaller amylose molecules start leaching
out of the granule, forming a network that holds water and increasing the
mixture's viscosity. This process is called starch gelatinization. During cooking, the
starch becomes a paste and increases further in viscosity. During cooling or
prolonged storage of the paste, the semi-crystalline structure partially recovers and
the starch paste thickens, expelling water. This is mainly caused by retrogradation of
the amylose. This process is responsible for the hardening of bread or staling, and for
the water layer on top of a starch gel (syneresis).
Some cultivated plant varieties have pure amylopectin starch without amylose,
known as waxy starches. The most used is waxy maize, others are glutinous
rice and waxy potato starch. Waxy starches have less retrogradation, resulting in a
more stable paste. High amylose starch, amylomaize, is cultivated for the use of its
gel strength and for use as a resistant starch (a starch that resists digestion) in food
products.
Synthetic amylose made from cellulose has a well-controlled degree of
polymerization. Therefore, it can be used as a potential drug deliver carrier.[23]

Hydrolysis[edit]
The enzymes that break down or hydrolyze starch into the constituent sugars are
known as amylases.
Alpha-amylases are found in plants and in animals. Human saliva is rich in amylase,
and the pancreas also secretes the enzyme. Individuals from populations with a high-
starch diet tend to have more amylase genes than those with low-starch diets; [33]
Beta-amylase cuts starch into maltose units. This process is important in the
digestion of starch and is also used in brewing, where amylase from the skin of seed
grains is responsible for converting starch to maltose (Malting, Mashing).[34][35]
Given a heat of combustion of glucose of 2,805 kilojoules per mole (670 kcal/mol)
whereas that of starch is 2,835 kJ (678 kcal)[2] per mole of glucose monomer,
hydrolysis releases about 30 kJ (7.2 kcal) per mole, or 166 J (40 cal) per gram of
glucose product.
Chemical tests[edit]
Main article: Iodine test

Granules of wheat starch, stained with iodine, photographed through a light microscope

A triiodide (I3−) solution formed by mixing iodine and iodide (usually from potassium
iodide) is used to test for starch; a dark blue color indicates the presence of starch.
The details of this reaction are not fully known, but recent scientific work using single
crystal x-ray crystallography and comparative Raman spectroscopy suggests that
the final starch-iodine structure is similar to an infinite polyiodide chain like one
found in a pyrroloperylene-iodine complex.[37] The strength of the resulting blue
color depends on the amount of amylose present. Waxy starches with little or no
amylose present will color red. Benedict's test and Fehling's test is also done to
indicate the presence of starch.
Starch indicator solution consisting of water, starch and iodide is often used
in redox titrations: in the presence of an oxidizing agent the solution turns blue, in
the presence of reducing agent the blue color disappears because triiodide (I3−) ions
break up into three iodide ions, disassembling the starch-iodine complex. Starch
solution was used as indicator for visualizing the periodic formation and consumption
of triiodide intermediate in the Briggs-Rauscher oscillating reaction. The starch,
however, changes the kinetics of the reaction steps involving triiodide ion[38]. A
0.3% w/w solution is the standard concentration for a starch indicator. It is made by
adding 3 grams of soluble starch to 1 liter of heated water; the solution is cooled
before use (starch-iodine complex becomes unstable at temperatures above 35 °C).
Each species of plant has a unique type of starch granules in granular size, shape
and crystallization pattern. Under the microscope, starch grains stained with iodine
illuminated from behind with polarized light show a distinctive Maltese cross effect
(also known as extinction cross and birefringence).

Food[edit]
Starch is the most common carbohydrate in the human diet and is contained in
many staple foods. The major sources of starch intake worldwide are
the cereals (rice, wheat, and maize) and the root vegetables (potatoes and cassava).
[39] Many other starchy foods are grown, some only in specific climates,
including acorns, arrowroot, arracacha, bananas, barley, breadfruit, buckwheat, cann
a, colacasia, katakuri, kudzu, malanga, millet, oats, oca, polynesian
arrowroot, sago, sorghum, sweet potatoes, rye, taro, chestnuts, water
chestnuts and yams, and many kinds of beans, such as favas, lentils, mung
beans, peas, and chickpeas.
Widely used prepared foods containing starch
are bread, pancakes, cereals, noodles, pasta, porridge and tortilla.
Digestive enzymes have problems digesting crystalline structures. Raw starch is
digested poorly in the duodenum and small intestine, while bacterial degradation
takes place mainly in the colon. When starch is cooked, the digestibility is increased.
Starch gelatinization during cake baking can be impaired by sugar competing
for water, preventing gelatinization and improving texture.
Before the advent of processed foods, people consumed large amounts of uncooked
and unprocessed starch-containing plants, which contained high amounts of resistant
starch. Microbes within the large intestine fermented the starch, produced short-
chain fatty acids, which are used as energy, and support the maintenance and
growth of the microbes. More highly processed foods are more easily digested and
release more glucose in the small intestine—less starch reaches the large intestine
and more energy is absorbed by the body. It is thought that this shift in energy
delivery (as a result of eating more processed foods) may be one of the contributing
factors to the development of metabolic disorders of modern life, including obesity
and diabetes.[40]
Starch production[edit]
The starch industry extracts and refines starches from seeds, roots and tubers, by
wet grinding, washing, sieving and drying. Today, the main commercial refined
starches are cornstarch, tapioca, arrowroot,[41] and wheat, rice, and potato starches.
To a lesser extent, sources of refined starch are sweet potato, sago and mung bean.
To this day, starch is extracted from more than 50 types of plants.
Untreated starch requires heat to thicken or gelatinize. When a starch is pre-cooked,
it can then be used to thicken instantly in cold water. This is referred to as
a pregelatinized starch.
Starch sugars[edit]
Starch can be hydrolyzed into simpler carbohydrates by acids, various enzymes, or a
combination of the two. The resulting fragments are known as dextrins. The extent of
conversion is typically quantified by dextrose equivalent (DE), which is roughly the
fraction of the glycosidic bonds in starch that have been broken.
These starch sugars are by far the most common starch based food ingredient and
are used as sweeteners in many drinks and foods. They include:

 Maltodextrin, a lightly hydrolyzed (DE 10–20) starch product used as a bland-

tasting filler and thickener.
 Various glucose syrups (DE 30–70), also called corn syrups in the US, viscous
solutions used as sweeteners and thickeners in many kinds of processed foods.
 Dextrose (DE 100), commercial glucose, prepared by the complete hydrolysis of
starch.
 High fructose syrup, made by treating dextrose solutions with the
enzyme glucose isomerase, until a substantial fraction of the glucose has been
converted to fructose. In the United States sugar prices are two to three times
higher than in the rest of the world;[42] high-fructose corn syrup is significantly
cheaper, and is the principal sweetener used in processed foods and beverages.
[43] Fructose also has better microbiological stability. One kind of high fructose
corn syrup, HFCS-55, is sweeter than sucrose because it is made with more
fructose, while the sweetness of HFCS-42 is on par with sucrose. [44][45]
 Sugar alcohols, such as maltitol, erythritol, sorbitol, mannitol and hydrogenated
starch hydrolysate, are sweeteners made by reducing sugars.
Use as food additive[edit]
As an additive for food processing, food starches are typically used as thickeners and
stabilizers in foods such as puddings, custards, soups, sauces, gravies, pie fillings,
and salad dressings, and to make noodles and pastas. Function as thickeners,
extenders, emulsion stabilizers and are exceptional binders in processed meats.
Gummed sweets such as jelly beans and wine gums are not manufactured using a
mold in the conventional sense. A tray is filled with native starch and leveled. A
positive mold is then pressed into the starch leaving an impression of 1,000 or so
jelly beans. The jelly mix is then poured into the impressions and put onto a stove to
set. This method greatly reduces the number of molds that must be manufactured.
Use in pharmaceutical industry[edit]
In the pharmaceutical industry, starch is also used as an excipient,
as tablet disintegrant, and as binder.

Industrial applications[edit]

Starch adhesive

Papermaking[edit]
Papermaking is the largest non-food application for starches globally, consuming
millions of metric tons annually.[12] In a typical sheet of copy paper for instance, the
starch content may be as high as 8%. Both chemically modified and unmodified
starches are used in papermaking. In the wet part of the papermaking process,
generally called the "wet-end", the starches used are cationic and have a positive
charge bound to the starch polymer. These starch derivatives associate with the
anionic or negatively charged paper fibers / cellulose and inorganic fillers. Cationic
starches together with other retention and internal sizing agents help to give the
necessary strength properties to the paper web formed in the papermaking process
(wet strength), and to provide strength to the final paper sheet (dry strength).
In the dry end of the papermaking process, the paper web is rewetted with a starch
based solution. The process is called surface sizing. Starches used have been
chemically, or enzymatically depolymerized at the paper mill or by the starch
industry (oxidized starch). The size/starch solutions are applied to the paper web by
means of various mechanical presses (size presses). Together with surface sizing
agents the surface starches impart additional strength to the paper web and
additionally provide water hold out or "size" for superior printing properties. Starch is
also used in paper coatings as one of the binders for the coating formulations which
include a mixture of pigments, binders and thickeners. Coated paper has improved
smoothness, hardness, whiteness and gloss and thus improves printing
characteristics.

Industrial applications[edit]

Starch adhesive

Papermaking[edit]
Papermaking is the largest non-food application for starches globally, consuming
millions of metric tons annually.[12] In a typical sheet of copy paper for instance, the
starch content may be as high as 8%. Both chemically modified and unmodified
starches are used in papermaking. In the wet part of the papermaking process,
generally called the "wet-end", the starches used are cationic and have a positive
charge bound to the starch polymer. These starch derivatives associate with the
anionic or negatively charged paper fibers / cellulose and inorganic fillers. Cationic
starches together with other retention and internal sizing agents help to give the
necessary strength properties to the paper web formed in the papermaking process
(wet strength), and to provide strength to the final paper sheet (dry strength).
In the dry end of the papermaking process, the paper web is rewetted with a starch
based solution. The process is called surface sizing. Starches used have been
chemically, or enzymatically depolymerized at the paper mill or by the starch
industry (oxidized starch). The size/starch solutions are applied to the paper web by
means of various mechanical presses (size presses). Together with surface sizing
agents the surface starches impart additional strength to the paper web and
additionally provide water hold out or "size" for superior printing properties. Starch is
also used in paper coatings as one of the binders for the coating formulations which
include a mixture of pigments, binders and thickeners. Coated paper has improved
smoothness, hardness, whiteness and gloss and thus improves printing
characteristics.

Occupational safety and health[edit]

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set the legal limit
(Permissible exposure limit) for starch exposure in the workplace as 15 mg/m3 total
exposure and 5 mg/m3 respiratory exposure over an 8-hour workday. The National
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has set a Recommended
exposure limit (REL) of 10 mg/m3total exposure and 5 mg/m3 respiratory exposure
over an 8-hour workday.[55]

END