Cornstarch as a Thickening Agent

Starch is the most important polysaccharide as well as storage polymer of plants abundantly
found in leaves, stem, fruit, seed, tubers, and roots of various plants. Starch is produced in
chloroplast and amyloplast of plant cells by photosynthesis, stored as a source of food and
energy. It is stored in plant cell during tubers sprouting, germination of seeds and fruit
maturation (Nawaz et al., 2020). Major sources of starch included cereals grains such as corn.
This could be referred as cornstarch.

Initially, cornstarch is the starch derived from the maize (corn) plant. In the corn refining (wet
milling) process, cornstarch is obtained from the endosperm of the corn kernel. The chemical
components of cornstarch are amylose and amylopectin. The cornstarch is usually made up
of 27 percent amylose and 73 percent amylopectin. However, this amylose/amylopectin ratio
varies slightly with different corn varieties, environmental and soil conditions. Waxy maize
consists of all amylopectin, and high amylose corn contains amylose as high as 70 percent. Both
amylose and amylopectin are homopolymers of repeating anhydroglucose units (AGU) joined by
an alpha-glycoside linkage. Amylose are straight chain starch molecules with alpha-1,4-
linkages. Amylopectin are branched chain starch molecules that are linked linearly by 1,4-
linkages and branched using 1,6-linkages (Stewart, 2020).

Furthermore, cornstarch is produced from corn kernels in a refining process known as wet
milling. During the first stage of cleaning and steeping, shelled corn is cleaned to remove any
impurities and transported to steep tanks, where the corn is soaked in warm water to facilitate
the release of starch. The softened kernel is then passed through mild attrition mills, in which
corn is coarsely milled to free germ from the fiber, protein and starch. Centrifugal forces are
then used to isolate the germ, which can be further refined to yield corn oil. Fine milling on the
remaining endosperm and hull allow complete separation of starch and fiber. The washed hull
can be milled to produce refined corn bran. The fourth stage involves the separation of starch
and gluten, as underflow and overflow respectively, from the water slurry by centrifugation. The
gluten is dried and sold as gluten meal, and the white, nearly-pure starch slurry is further
processed into cornstarch (Stewart, 2020).

Overall, starch has great nutritional, pharmaceutical and industrial significance due to its unique
physical, chemical and functional and nutritional properties. When cornstarch and water are
heated, the starch molecules hydrate and combine with individual water molecules. The starch
granules hydrate, increase in size and viscosity and eventually form a paste or gel. These
physicochemical properties have made cornstarch useful in food and industrial applications,
such as thickeners and adhesives. Moreover, the process of starch gelatinization is
commonly used for thickening food products such as gravies, sauces and puddings. In many
other foods, starch pastes are used to suspend or emulsify fats and proteins. Starch paste
spread on a smooth surface and dried can also form strong adhesive films, which has
applications in paper coating and corrugated board manufacturing. The gelatinization of high
amylose starches is difficult, but it can form firm gels and strong films. On the other end of the
spectrum, waxy starches (100 percent amylopectin) gelatinize easily to yield weak gels
(Stewart, 2020).
Figure 1. Structure of Amylose and Amylopectin in a Starch.

Figure 2. Skeletal and Chemical Structure of a Cornstarch.

Or

References:

Haq Nawaz, Rashem Waheed, Mubashir Nawaz and Dure Shahwar (March 11th 2020). Physical
and Chemical Modifications in Starch Structure and Reactivity, Chemical Properties of Starch,
Martins Emeje, IntechOpen, DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.88870. Available from:
https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/68720

Stewart, D. (2020, December 31). Different granulating binding agents. Retrieved September
20, 2021, from https://sciencing.com/different-granulating-binding-agents-8647281.html