Starch

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A complex carbohydrate. Starches are generally associated with pasta, potatoes, and other starchy foods. It is made of lots of sugars. Plants use it to keep energy.

[edit] Starch in food

Starch is a part of food from plants. Some good food sources of starch are cereals, breads, potatoes, grains, peas, and beans. Starch is also used for thickening sauces in cooking. It is a white powder that is tasteless and odorless. It can also be used for thickening cold foods when they are pre-cooked. One main source of starch is bread, which is commonly prepared from wheat.

[edit] Laundry starch

There are also different kinds of Starch like Laundry Starch which is a liquid that is made by mixing vegetable starch in water and it is used in washing clothes. The reason there is starch in clothes is because it gives clothing a smooth and crisp feel. Sweat and dirt from a person’s wrist and neck would stick to the starch on the clothes, and not on the fibers of the clothes and would wash away along with the starch. Then, after each laundry load, the starch would be used again.

[edit] Other facts

The four major resources of starch and consumption in the USA are potatoes, corn, wheat, and rice. Buckwheat, bananas, barley, arracacha, kudzu, cassava, sago, oca, taro, sweet potatoes, and yams are starches commonly used around the world. Beans that are edible like favas, peas, and lentils are also rich in starch. Starches that are foods are used as stabilizers and thickeners in food such as soups, sauces, puddings, pies, gravies, salad dressings, and pie fillings, but have many other uses.Maltodextrin, , is used as a bland testing filler and thickener. Starch glues are used in wood, cotton, and bonding of paper. Animals and humans have amylase, so they can digest starch. Starch was used in Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries to stiffen the collars and ruffs of the fine linen which surrounded the neck. One fourth of the end products is native starch. Starch also requires heat to thicken or glatinize. The actual temperature depends on the type of starch. Starch is found in seeds, fruits, rhizomes or tubers of plants. It grains show a distinctive Maltese Cross effect under polarized light under the microscope. Starch is also made of lots of sugars and plants use it to keep energy.