Starch
Starch or amylum is a carbohydrate consisting of a large number of glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. It, consisting of repeating glucose units, is separated into the polysaccharides amylose and amylopectin. Amylose consists of straightchains containing 200–2,100 glucose units, while amylopectin consists of branched chains containing 20–25 glucose units each.
This polysaccharide is produced by most green plants as an energy store. It is the most common carbohydrate in human diets and is contained in large amounts in such staple foods as 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.
Starch is processed to produce many of the sugars in processed foods. Dissolving starch in warm water gives wheatpaste, which can be used as a thickening, stiffening or gluing agent. The biggest industrial non-food use of starch is as adhesive in the papermaking process. Starch can be applied to parts of some garments before ironing, to stiffen them.
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). Many other starchy foods are grown, some only in specific climates, including acorns, arrowroot, arracacha, bananas, barley, breadfruit, buckwheat, canna, 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.
Starch also cointains in starch are bread, pancakes, cereals, noodles, pasta, porridge and tortilla.
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