Starch Industry

(Prepared by: Esha Liaquat )

Introduction:
What 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, and is contained in large amounts in staple foods such
as wheat, potatoes, maize (corn), rice, and cassava (manioc). Industrically its
applications are numerous and it is used in more than 800 modern industries
including the manufacture of textiles,paper, adhesives, insecticides, paints,
explosives, soaps and such derivatives as dextrins, nitrostarch and corn sugars. In
recent years such derivatives as beet resistants, adhesives, esters comparable with
cellulose esters, carboxylic acids from the oxidation of dextrose and wetting agents
have been produced.
Characteristics:
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.

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History:
The word starch is derived from Middle English sterchen meaning to stiffen.
Amylum is Latin for starch from the Greek (ἄμυλον) amylon which means not
ground at a mill. The root amyl is used in biochemistry for several compounds
related to starch. Starch grains from the rhizomes of Typha as flour have been
identified from grinding stones in Europe dating back to 30,000 years ago.
Starch grains from sorghum were found on grind stones in caves
in Ngalue, Mozambique dating up to 100,000 years ago.
Pure extracted wheat starch paste was used in Ancient Egypt, possibly to
glue papyrus. The extraction of starch is first described in the Natural
History of Pliny the Elder around 77–79 CE.
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 AD onwards.
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.In the EU the starch industry produced about 11 million tonnes in
2011, with around 40% being used for industrial applications and 60% for food
uses.
Energy store of plants:
In photosynthesis, plants use light energy to produce glucose from carbon dioxide
and water. 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 molecules are bound in
starch by the easily hydrolyzed glycosidic bonds. The same type of bond is found
in the animal reserve polysaccharide glycogen. This is in contrast to many
structural polysaccharides such as chitin, cellulose and peptidoglycan, which are
bound by beta bonds and are much more resistant to hydrolysis.
Biosynthesis:
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.

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Starch branching enzyme introduces 1,6-alpha glycosidic bonds between the
amylose chains, creating the branched amylopectin. The starch debranching
enzyme isoamylase removes some of these branches.
Starch molecules:
Accumulated starch within plants is stored in semi-crystalline granules. Each plant
species has a unique starch granular size: rice starch is relatively small (about 2
μm), potato starches have larger granules (up to 100 μm) When heated in abundant
water, the granules of native starch 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).
Hydrolysis:
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.
 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)
Dextrinization:
If starch is subjected to dry heat, it breaks down to form dextrins, also called
"pyrodextrins" in this context. This break down process is known as
dextrinization. (Pyro)dextrins are mainly yellow to brown in color and
dextrinization is partially responsible for the browning of toasted bread.
Chemical Tests:
 Iodine Test:Iodine solution is used to test for starch; a dark blue color indicates
the presence of starch. In this reaction iodine in the form of I3(-ve)and I5(-
ve)ions fits inside the coils of amylose.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.

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 Starch Indicator: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 Industry:
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, and wheat, rice, and potato starches.
However,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.
Modified starches:
A modified starch is a starch that has been chemically modified to allow the starch
to function properly under conditions frequently encountered during processing or
storage, such as high heat, high shear, low pH, freeze/thaw and cooling.
The starch Industry includes the following statch productions:
 Potato Starch Production
 Cassava (Tapioca) Starch
 Maize Starch Extraction
 Corn Starch Production
 Wheat Starch Production
 Rice Starch
 Sago Starch
Potato Starch Production:
The production of potato starch comprises the following steps:
1. Delivery and unloading potatoes
2. Cleaning
3. Rasping of tubers
4. Potato juice separation
5. Starch extraction
6. Starch milk refination
7. Dewatering of refined starch milk and starch drying.
8. Waste products
 Delivery and unloading potatoes:
Potatoes are delivered to the starch plants via road or rail transport. Unloading of
potatoes could be done in two ways:
 dry - using elevators and tippers,
 wet - using strong jet of water.

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 Cleaning:
Coarsely cleaning of potatoes takes place during the transport of potatoes to the
scrubber by channel. In addition, before the scrubber, straw and stones separators
are installed. The main cleaning is conducted in scrubber (different kinds of high
specialized machines are used). The remaining stones, sludge and light wastes are
removed at this step. Water used for washing is then purified and recycled back
into the process.
 Rasping of tubers:
Most often the rasping of potato tubers is carried out with a rotary grater. The
purpose of this stage is disruption of cell walls, which therefore release the starch.
In practice, potato cells are not entirely destroyed and part of the starch remains in
the mash. Potato pulp rapidly turns dark, because tyrosine presented in the potato
is oxidised by polyphenol oxidase, which is located in the cellular juice.
Therefore, cellular juice must be separated as soon as possible.
 Potato juice separation:
This allows the recovery of full-value protein from juice and reduces the
onerousness of water juice as a sludge.
 Starch extraction:
After separation of potato juice the pulp is directed to the washing starch station, to
isolate the starch. Most used are stream-oriented washers. In these machines pulp
diluted with water is washed with a strong stream of water to flush out the milk
starch. The mash smuggling with water is a waste product – dewatered potato pulp.
Starch milk is contaminated by small fiber particles (potato tissue fragments) and
the remaining components of the potato juice – that is why it is called raw starch
milk.
 Starch milk raffination:
Raw starch milk is purified in the refining process. This involves the removal of
small fibers from the starch milk and then the removal of juice water and starch
milk condensation. For this purpose, the screens and hydrocyclones are
commonly used.
Hydrocyclones due to the low output (approximately 0.3 cubic
meters per hour) are connected in parallel and works as multihydrocyclones. For
the starch milk desanding bihydrocyclones are used. In order to prevent enzymatic
darkening of potato juice the chemical refining of starch is carried out
using sulfurous acid. Refined starch milk has a density of about 22° Be, which is
about 38% of starch.
 Dewatering of refined starch milk and starch drying:

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It is a suspension of starch in water, which needs dewatering up to 20%
of moisture. This is equivalent to the moisture content of commercial starch when
stored. High temperatures cannot be used in this process because of the danger
of starch gelatinization which destroys granular structure. It may result in
significant changes of the functional starch properties. Therefore, removal of
excess water from milk shall be done only under conditions that prevent the
gelatinization of starch. Dewatering of refined starch milk is carried out in two
stages.
In the first stage the excess water is removed by means of a rotary vacuum
filter. Secondly moist starch is dried, without starch pasting. For this purpose
a pneumatic dryer is used. In this device moist starch (with water content 36 –
40%) is floating in strong and hot (160 °C) air flow and then dried during 2 – 3
seconds. Then, the starch is separated from hot air in cyclones. Due to short time of
high temperature drying and intensive water evaporation from the starch granules,
its surface is heated only to 40 °C.
Dried starch contains about 21% of water. During the pneumatic transport starch
loses additional 1% of water. Received starch is storing separately in silos,
in jute bags (100 kg) or paper bags (50 kg). There are three kinds of starch:
superior extra, superior and prima. Different sorts of starch depend on degree
of purity and whiteness. The differences between them are in an acidity and
content of mineral substances.
 Waste products:
Potato juice is a liquid waste product separated from the potatoes pulp after the
rasping, using centrifuges or decanters. It contains about 5% of dry substance,
including about 2% valuable protein of the potato of high nutritional
value, minerals, vitamins and other. Modern starch plants separate the juice from
the mash.
We can get about 600 kg of coagulated protein from each 1000 kg of potato.
Potato pulp is a side product of washing the starch from the mash. It contains all
non-starchy substances insoluble in water (fragments of wall of cells) fibres and
bounded starch which cannot be mechanically separated from the blended parties
of potato. The pulp contains 30% of starch, which is not extracted due to
economical reasons. That’s why the pulp is used in animal feeding.
Juicy water is a liquid side product obtained after refining of starch milk. It is ten
times diluted potato juice. As it is a sludge and it cannot be discharged to open
water. It must be treated as waste water or is used as fertilizer.

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Cassava Starch:
This starch is obtained from the roots and tubers of the manioc plant. The average
starch contents varies from 20 to 30%. The cassava plant is cultivated in most
equatorial regions and is known by many names. There are many varieties of
cassava but fall into two main categories namely bitter and sweet cassava
depending on their content of cyanohydrin. For industrial purpose bitter varieties
are more frequently used because of their high starch contents. In general the roots
are pulped and washed on sieves to obtain starch. Separating and purifying
operations are similar to those describe in potato starch because both potatoes and
cassava starches are tubers starches and their properties are excellent as food
starches.
Maize Starch Extraction:
Maize starch extraction consists of the following important steps:
1. Supply / cleaning
2. Steeping
3. Coarse grinding and degermination
4. Fine grinding and extraction
5. Gluten separation
6. Starch refining
7. Dehydration and drying
 Supply/ Cleaning:
First supplied maize has to pass the incoming inspections. If it meets with the
specification of the respective starch facts it is coarsely sieved to separate
contaminants i.e, stones ,cobs, dust particles, foreign grain materials fine
materials. After cleaning the maize kernels are stored and then conveyed into
steeping tanks.
 Steeping:
Well conducted steeping is an important step for high yield and good starch quality.
At first the purified maize kernels are transferred into a tank containing steep
water .This step is conducted at 50 C and last about 40-50 hours. Steeping tanks
are commonly series connected and operated by counterflow principal. For
optimal steeping conditions steep water is kept at pH 4 by addition of sulphuric
acid or hydrochloric acid and treated with sulphur dioxide. These conditions
guarantee optimal water absorption of the maize kernels, controlled fermentation
and loosening of the protein matrix. Steep water also cause the softening of
kernels and release of solubles. During steeping the size nearly doubles and the
water contents increases from 15 to 45%.

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 Coarse grinding and degermination:
After steeping one is able too mash the maize kernels with a finger nails and
remove the skin easily .After this processing step it is also possible to take germ
out of the broken maize kernel ,this affect is known as degermination. To free the
germs, kernels are coarsely ground in an attrition mill. The grinding is conducted
with care to avoid oil leakage out of the germs. Separation of specifically lighter
germs is conducted by means of hydro cyclones. For complete degermination this
step is performed twice .Afterwards the separated germs are washed and dried and
finally sold to companies which utilise them for corn oil production.
 Fine grinding and extraction:
The fine grinding is an impact to completely disrupt the cells of the endospores
and release the starch granules. The resulting suspension is led over band cascades
for separation from fibrous and other maize components. The starch milk which
contains protein fraction, gluten passes through the bend screen cascades that are
connected in series. Additionally washing water is added to the last process starch
the separated residues are dehydrated and dried for use as an animal feed
components.
 Gluten separation:
The crude starch milk still contains all the dissolved proteins .This fraction is
called gluten and most of it is separated off by means of two successive nozzle
type continuous centrifugal separators. The process utilise density differences
between starch and protein. The protein fraction is dehydrated by means of a
rotary drum filter than dried and used as a high protein food additive.
 Starch Refining:
The starch milk which still contains 2% protein and fibres after separation is then
refined in a multi step cyclone plant. The last stage of multi step cyclone plant is
the one and only step in which freshwater is added. By optimal construction and
adjustment of the plant it is possible to reduce protein content below 0.3% on a
matter.
 Dehydration and drying:
The refined starch milk having water contents approximately 65% is dehydrated in
peeler centrifuges to a residual water content of about 40%. The inner layer of the
filter cake is coloured yellow and contains high amount of protein it is reintroduced
into the process. Pure starch is finally dried by means of a flash dryer and take care
that the residual moisture must not exceed 14%.

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Corn Starch Production:
The corn wet milling process begins with the production of starch slurry.This
slurry can be further processed to produce starch dextrins etc.
 Production of starch slurry:
First shelled and cleaned kernels are placed in steep tanks and soaked in water
containing small quantities of SO2 for 44 to 48 hours at a temperature of 50° C.
This process allows for extraction of soluble materials from the kernels. The SO 2
prevent fermentation and helps to separate the starch and protein. After steeping is
completed steep water is drained from the kernels and concentrated. This
concentrated steep water is primarily used in producing animal feed products.

Next the kernels are ground in attrition mills to loosen the hull,water is added to
the mills creating a mixture of macerated slurry and white germ. This slurry is
placed in hydro cyclones separators which removes the germ. The germ is then
dried and either sold as or further processed into corn oil and germ meal. The
germ meal is used in the production of animal feed. The remainder of the kernel
including the hull, gluten and starch component is sent through an additional series
of grinding mill ,the hull particles are caught on screens while the gluten and starch
particles pass through. The hull are later used as animal feed. The remaining slurry
of gluten and starch is than separated by centrifugation.The gluten is dried and sold
as corn gluten meal. The starch slurry is then washed and dewatered using filters or
centrifuges.
 Production of Starch:
Most of the slurry is passed through a starch dryer to produce modified and
unmodified corn starch. The unmodified starch passed through various chemical
and enzymes treatment and finally passed through a starch dryer to create a wide
variety of modified starches. The industry produces many types of modified
starches including acid thinned (by treating with mineral acid result in paste with
decreasing viscosity) oxidized (by reducing viscosity due to oxidation with sodium
hypochlorite) cationic ( by reacting with mono functional reagents giving the
starch more strength) hydroxyethyl (starch produces by adjusting the pH adding a
salt increase its stability and resulting in a clear paste). Starch acetates are
produced by acetylating the slurry with acetic anhydride.
Starch succinates are produced by using succinic anhydride thereby improving the
thickening quality of starch. Starch phosphate are produced by esterifying starch
with monosodium orthophosphate to increase the stability of starch. In addition the
starch slurry passed through a starch dryer and then be dry- heated a roasted with
or without an acid to produce dextrins.

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Wheat starch production:
The primary method used for wheat starch production by industries is martin
process, in this process , the wheat is first taken from storage and ground at flour
mill, where white flour is produced, wheat germ and bran are separated out and
used as feed.The white flour is then mixed with water to form a stiff dough. At this
stage ,the dough is rolled or is kneaded ,and the starch is washed off by water
sprays. The gluten is then separated from the starch slurry on screens ,washed and
dried. The starch slurry then passes through a screening process to remove
insoluble impurities .It then proceed through a series of centrifuges and
hydrocyclones that concentratethe slurry and facilitate its separation into two
fractions. The pure A and less pure B fractions.These starch fractions are then
typically dried and sold.
The separation of starch from gluten can be occur through the slack dough or
batter process. In this process water is mixed with wheat flour to form a battar.
This batter is mechanically broken up ,white starch is separated by water .The
gluten recovered in the form of fine curds. While the starch slurry is evaporated
and dried .

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Rice Starch:
This is made from cargo rice which still has brown outer cuticle attached or from
broken white grains rejected as foodstuff. The rice is steeped for 24 hours with
dilute caustic soda solution in tanks with perforate false bottoms. At the end of this
period the liquid is withdrawn, the rice is washed, fresh liquor is added and
steeping continued for another 36 to 48 hours. The resulting softened grains are
ground with a caustic solution to a specific gravity of 1.24 and the mash is
centrifuged.
The solid obtained include all sorts of fibrous materials, starch and
gluten. These are resuspended a small amount of formaldehyde is added to inhibit
fermentation and they are centrifuged and washed. Bleaching agent maybe added
at this point, the liquor is screened adjusted to a specific gravity of 1.21 and sent to
disk centrifuge .The resulting starch is deried for 2 days at 50- 60 C°.
Sago Starch:
This is obtained from the pith of the sago palm and also from yams. Starch is
made by drying the starch as to form a plastic dough which is than forced through
sieves and dried in the air.
Other Starch Sources:
Sweet potatoes,Sorghum ,waxy sorghum and waxy corn are all currently important
sources of starch which is obtained from them by above mentioned methods.
Applications of Starch:
As Food:
 Starch Sugars: The most common starch based food ingredients are used as a
sweetener in many drinks and foods. They include maltodextrin used as a bland
tasting filler and thickner. Various glucose syrups , also called corn syrups
viscous solutions used as sweeteners and thickeners in many kinds of processed
foods. Dextrose ,commercial glucose, prepared by the complete hydrolysis of
starch.Sugar alcohols, such as maltitol, erythritol, sorbitol, mannitol and
hydrogenated starch hydrolysate, are sweeteners made by reducing sugars.
 As Food Additive: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.
Non-Food Applications (Industrial Applications):
 Paper making: Papermaking is the largest non-food application for starches
globally, consuming many millions of metric tons annually. 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.
 Corrugated board adhesives:Corrugated board adhesives are the next largest
application of non-food starches globally. Starch glues are mostly based on

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 unmodified native starches, plus some additive such as borax and caustic soda.
Part of the starch is gelatinized to carry the slurry of uncooked starches and
prevent sedimentation.This gelatinizing makes the glue a fast and strong
adhesive for corrugated board production.
 Clothing Starch: Clothing or laundry starch is a liquid prepared by mixing a
vegetable starch in water and is used in the laundering of clothes.Dirt and
sweat from a person's neck and wrists would stick to the starch rather than to
the fibers of the clothing. The dirt would wash away along with the starch; after
laundering, the starch would be reapplied.
 Other: Another large non-food starch application is in the construction
industry, where starch is used in the gypsum wall board manufacturing
process.The starches act as a glue for the cured gypsum rock with the paper
covering, and also provide rigidity to the board.Starch is used in the
manufacture of various adhesives or glues[85] for book-binding, wallpaper
adhesives, paper sack production, tube winding, gummed paper, envelope
adhesives, school glues and bottle labeling.

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