Characteristics Of Cassava Starch
Cassava starch has many properties that make it an excellent material to be used in many industries. As top quality starch can be obtained from cassava using only water, it makes converting cassava starch a suitable rural industry, especially in developing countries. Cassava starch has a very high level of purity. It has excellent thickening characteristics, and has a neutral or bland taste. Its texture is of a very desirable quality. It is relatively cheap when compared to other starches made from maize, wheat, sweet potato, and rice. |
It is also easy to extract the starch from cassava. This can be done using equipment that require a low capital outlay. It is a preferred raw material in the adhesives industry as adhesives that use cassava starch work more smoothly and provide glues of neutral pH. The paste so produced is also clear, a distinct advantage in glues.
Cassava starch can be used both in food and in food environments. Cassava has low quantities of protein and lipid, making it easier to extract pure starch from it. Among the many industries that use cassava starch are the food, metallurgic, mining, fermentation, construction, cosmetics, pharmaceutical, paper and cardboard, and textile industries. With modifications to the native starch, other industries too have begun to use this starch. Modification results in lower retrogradation, reduces the paste’s tendency to gelatinize, increases the paste’s stability when cooled and frozen, increases the transparency of pastes and gels, improves the texture of pastes and gels, and increases the adhesiveness of the starch.
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