Starch: Chemistry and Technology

STARCH

Chemistry and Technology

Second Edition

ROY L. WHISTLER

DEPARTMENT OF BIOCHEMISTRY, PURDUE UNIVERSITY, WEST LAFAYETTE, INDIANA

JAMES N. BEMILLER

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY, SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY, CARBONDALE, ILLINOIS

EUGENE F. PASCHALL

MOFFETT TECHNICAL CENTER, CORN PRODUCTS, SUMMIT-ARGO, ILLINOIS

Table of Contents

Cover image

Title page

CONTRIBUTORS

Copyright

LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS

PREFACE

CONTENTS OF PREVIOUS VOLUMES

CHAPTER I: HISTORY AND FUTURE EXPECTATION OF STARCH USE

Publisher Summary

I INTRODUCTION

II EARLY HISTORY

III AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT

IV WAXY CORN

V HIGH-AMYLOSE CORN

VI FUTURE OF STARCH

CHAPTER II: ECONOMICS AND FUTURE OF THE STARCH INDUSTRY

Publisher Summary

I INTRODUCTION

II STATISTICAL ESTIMATION OF THE DEMAND FOR STARCH

III PROJECTED FUTURE VOLUMES OF CORN LIKELY TO BE USED BY THE WET-MILLING INDUSTRY

IV ORGANIZATION OF THE CORN WET-MILLING INDUSTRY (SEE ALSO PAGES 4–6)

CHAPTER III: GENETICS AND PHYSIOLOGY OF STARCH DEVELOPMENT

Publisher Summary

I INTRODUCTION

II OCCURRENCE

III CELLULAR DEVELOPMENTAL GRADIENTS

IV NONMUTANT STARCH GRANULE POLYSACCHARIDE COMPOSITION

V NONMUTANT STARCH GRANULE AND PLASTID MORPHOLOGY

VI POLYSACCHARIDE BIOSYNTHESIS (SEE ALSO Chapter IV, Section V)

VII MUTANT EFFECTS

VIII CONCLUSIONS

CHAPTER IV: ENZYMES IN THE HYDROLYSIS AND SYNTHESIS OF STARCH

Publisher Summary

I INTRODUCTION AND CLASSIFICATION OF STARCH HYDROLASES

II ASSAY METHODS FOR AMYLASES

III STRUCTURE AND PROPERTIES OF THE AMYLASES

IV ACTION OF AMYLASES (SEE ALSO Chapter V)

V BIOSYNTHESIS OF STARCH (SEE ALSO Chapter III, Section VI)

CHAPTER V: STARCH OLIGOSACCHARIDES: LINEAR, BRANCHED, AND CYCLIC

Publisher Summary

I INTRODUCTION

II LINEAR AND BRANCHED STARCH OLIGOSACCHARIDES

III CYCLOAMYLOSES

IV RECENT PUBLICATIONS REGARDING MALTOOLIGOSCCHARIDE PREPARATION AND UTILIZATION NOT MENTIONED IN THE TEXT (SEE ALSO Chapter IV)

V RECENT PUBLICATIONS REGARDING CYCLOAMYLOSES NOT MENTIONED IN THE TEXT

CHAPTER VI: MOLECULAR STRUCTURE OF STARCH

Publisher Summary

I GENERAL NATURE OF STARCH

II FRACTIONATION OF STARCH (SEE ALSO Chapter VIII)

III METHYLATION ANALYSIS

IV MALTOSE, THE REPEATING UNIT

V MALTOOLIGOSACCHARIDES

VI NATURE OF AMYLOSE

VII NATURE OF AMYLOPECTIN

VIII STRUCTURAL INDICATIONS BY PERIODATE OXIDATION

IX STARCH HYDROLYSIS

X STARCH PHOSPHATE ESTERS

CHAPTER VII: ORGANIZATION OF STARCH GRANULES

Publisher Summary

I INTRODUCTION

II BIOLOGICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL FACETS OF STARCH GRANULE STRUCTURE (SEE ALSO Chapter III)

III ORDERED STRUCTURE OF STARCH GRANULES

IV AMORPHOUS OR GEL PHASE OF STARCH GRANULES

V ROLE OF WATER IN STARCH GRANULES

VI GRANULE SWELLING AND GELATINIZATION (SEE ALSO Chapter IX)

CHAPTER VIII: FRACTIONATION OF STARCH

Publisher Summary

I INTRODUCTION

II MOLECULAR WEIGHT OF FRACTIONS

III CHROMATOGRAPHIC SEPARATION

IV AQUEOUS LEACHING OF GELATINIZED GRANULES

V DISPERSION OF THE GRANULE AND FRACTIONATION WITH COMPLEXING AGENTS

VI FRACTIONAL PRECIPITATION

VII FRACTIONATION BY RETROGRADATION AND CONTROLLED POLYMER CRYSTALLIZATION

VIII CONFORMATION OF AMYLOSE IN DILUTE SOLUTION

IX SOLUTION PROPERTIES OF AMYLOSE

X SOLUTION PROPERTIES OF AMYLOPECTIN

XI AMYLOSE FILMS

XII USES FOR AMYLOSE AND AMYLOPECTIN

CHAPTER IX: GELATINIZATION OF STARCH AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF STARCH PASTES

Publisher Summary

I INTRODUCTION

II GRANULE COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE (SEE ALSO Chapter VII)

III MELTING CONCEPT FOR GELATINIZATION

IV METHODS FOR DETERMINING STARCH GELATINIZATION

V MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF STARCH PASTES

CHAPTER X: STARCH DERIVATIVES: PRODUCTION AND USES

Publisher Summary

I INTRODUCTION

II HYPOCHLORITE-OXIDIZED STARCHES

III CROSS-LINKED STARCH

IV STARCH ESTERS

V HYDROXYALKYLSTARCHES

VI STARCH PHOSPHATE MONOESTERS

VII CATIONIC STARCHES

VIII OTHER STARCH DERIVATIVES

CHAPTER XI: CHEMICALS FROM STARCH

Publisher Summary

I INTRODUCTION

II CHEMICALS FROM STARCH VIA BIOSYNTHESIS

III POLYHYDROXY COMPOUNDS FROM STARCH

IV STARCH IN PLASTICS

V STARCH GRAFT COPOLYMERS

VI STARCH XANTHIDE

CHAPTER XII: CORN AND SORGHUM STARCHES: PRODUCTION

Publisher Summary

I INTRODUCTION

II STRUCTURE, COMPOSITION, AND QUALITY OF GRAIN

III WET MILLING

IV THE PRODUCTS

CHAPTER XIII: TAPIOCA, ARROWROOT, AND SAGO STARCHES: PRODUCTION

Publisher Summary

I MANUFACTURE OF TAPIOCA STARCH

II ARROWROOT STARCH

III SAGO STARCH

CHAPTER XIV: POTATO STARCH: PRODUCTION AND USES

Publisher Summary

I INTRODUCTION

II MANUFACTURING LOCATIONS

III STARCH FROM CULL POTATOES

IV STARCH RECLAIMED FROM POTATO PROCESSING

V BY-PRODUCTS AND EFFLUENT CONTROL

VI UTILIZATION OF POTATO STARCH

VII OUTLOOK FOR POTATO STARCH

CHAPTER XV: WHEAT STARCH: PRODUCTION, MODIFICATION, AND USES

Publisher Summary

I INTRODUCTION

II PRODUCTION

III BASIC PROCESSING METHODS

IV USES OF WHEAT STARCH, UNMODIFIED AND MODIFIED

CHAPTER XVI: RICE STARCH: PRODUCTION, PROPERTIES, AND USES

Publisher Summary

I RICE PRODUCTION AND PROCESSING

II USES OF MILLED RICE AND RICE BY-PRODUCTS

III PREPARATION OF RICE STARCH

IV PHYSICOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF RICE STARCH

V STARCH PROPERTIES IN RELATION TO QUALITY OF MILLED RICE

VI USES OF RICE STARCH

CHAPTER XVII: ACID-MODIFIED STARCH: PRODUCTION AND USES

Publisher Summary

I INTRODUCTION

II PROPERTIES

III THEORY (SEE ALSO Chapter VII, Section V.8)

IV HISTORY

V INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION

VI ACID MODIFICATION COMBINED WITH OTHER STARCH MODIFICATIONS

VII INDUSTRIAL USES

CHAPTER XVIII: STARCH IN THE PAPER INDUSTRY

Publisher Summary

I INTRODUCTION TO THE PAPER INDUSTRY

II PAPER AND PAPERBOARD MANUFACTURE

III WET-END APPLICATION OF STARCH

IV SURFACE SIZING WITH STARCH

V STARCH AS BINDER FOR PIGMENTED COATING

VI STARCH ADHESIVE FOR CORRUGATED BOARD

CHAPTER XIX: APPLICATIONS OF STARCHES IN FOODS

Publisher Summary

I INTRODUCTION

II FOOD STARCH SOURCES

III MODIFICATION OF FOOD STARCHES (SEE ALSO Chapter X)

IV FOOD STARCH PROCESSING

V FOOD STARCH APPLICATIONS

CHAPTER XX: STARCH AND DEXTRINS IN PREPARED ADHESIVES

Publisher Summary

I INTRODUCTION

II DEXTRIN MANUFACTURE

III ADHESIVE PREPARATION

IV MODIFIERS

V ADHESIVE APPLICATIONS AND FORMULATIONS

VI ADHESIVE TERMINOLOGY

CHAPTER XXI: GLUCOSE- AND FRUCTOSE-CONTAINING SWEETNERS FROM STARCH

Publisher Summary

I INTRODUCTION

II REFINED STARCH HYDROLYZATES

III SYRUPS CONTAINING FRUCTOSE

IV SYRUPS WITH SUPRAEQUILIBRIUM FRUCTOSE CONTENTS

V CRYSTALLINE SWEETENERS FROM STARCH

CHAPTER XXII: INDUSTRIAL MICROSCOPY OF STARCHES

Publisher Summary

I INTRODUCTION

II IDENTIFICATION OF STARCH SPECIES

III GRANULE AGGREGATION AND GELATINIZED GRANULES

IV KOFLER GELATINIZATION TEMPERATURE

V IODINE STAINING

VI DYE STAINING

VII PREGELATINIZED STARCHES

CHAPTER XXIII: PHOTOMICROGRAPHS OF STARCHES

Publisher Summary

I INTRODUCTION

II PHOTOGRAPHIC METHODS

III DESCRIPTION OF STARCHES

Acknowledgments

INDEX

CONTRIBUTORS

Douglas A. Corbishley, James R. Daniel, William M. Doane, Paul L. Farris, A.C. Fischer, Jr., Larry E. Fitt, Dexter French, Douglas L. Garwood, C.W. Hastings, Bienvenido O. Juliano, Keiji Kainuma, H.M. Kennedy, Robert E. Klem, J.W. Knight, Norman E. Lloyd, Merle J. Mentzer, William Miller, Eugene L. Mitch, C.O. Moore, William J. Nelson, R.M. Olson, Felix H. Otey, John F. Robyt, Robert G. Rowher, Morton W. Rutenberg, R.V. Schanefelt, Jack C. Shannon, Eileen Maywald Snyder, Daniel Solarek, J.V. Tuschhoff, Stanley A. Watson, Roy L. Whistler, Austin H. Young and Henry F. Zobel

Copyright

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United Kingdom Edition published by

ACADEMIC PRESS (LONDON) LTD.

24/28 Oval Road, London NW1 7DX

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Main entry under title:

Starch.

Includes index.

1. Starch. I. Whistler, Roy Lester. II. BeMiller, James N. III. Paschall, Eugene F.

TP248.S7S7 1984 664′.2 82-25311

ISBN 0-12-746270-8

Printed in the United States of America

98 99 IBT 9 8 7

LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS

Numbers in parentheses indicate the pages on which the authors’ contributions begin.

DOUGLAS A. CORBISHLEY,     (469), Research Department, Industrial Starch and Food Products Division, National Starch and Chemical Corporation, Bridgewater, New Jersey 08876

JAMES R. DANIEL¹,     (153), Department of Biochemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907

WILLIAM M. DOANE,     (389), Northern Regional Research Center, Agricultural Research, Science and Education Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Peoria, Illinois 61604

PAUL L. FARRIS,     (11), Department of Agricultural Economics, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907

A.C. FISCHER, JR.,     (593), Technical Sales Service, Corn Products, Summit-Argo, Illinois 60502

LARRY E. FITT,     (675), Moffett Technical Center, Corn Products, Summit-Argo, Illinois 60502

DEXTER FRENCH²,     (183), Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011

DOUGLAS L. GARWOOD³,     (25), Department of Horticulture, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802

C.W. HASTINGS,     (575), A. E. Staley Manufacturing Company, Decatur, Illinois 62525

BIENVENIDO O. JULIANO,     (507), Chemistry Department, International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines

KEIJI KAINUMA,     (125), National Food Research Institute, Tsukuba-Gun, Ibaraki-Ken 305, Japan

H.M. KENNEDY⁴,     (593), Research Department, Acme Resin Co., Division of CPC International, Forest Park, Illinois 60130

ROBERT E. KLEM,     (529), Grain Processing Corporation, Muscatine, Iowa 52761

J.W. KNIGHT,     (491), Fielder Gillespie Ltd., Sydney, New South Wales, 2000 Australia

NORMAN E. LLOYD⁵,     (611), Clinton Corn Processing Company, A Division of Standard Brands, Inc., Clinton, Iowa 52732

MERLE J. MENTZER,     (543), CPC Latin America, Division of CPC International, 1106 Buenos Aires, Argentina

WILLIAM MILLER,     (469), Tapioca Associates, Inc., Wilton, Connecticut 06897

EUGENE L. MITCH⁶,     (479), Chemical Operations, Boise Cascade Corp., Portland, Oregon 97201

C.O. MOORE,     (575), A. E. Staley Manufacturing Company, Decatur, Illinois 62525

WILLIAM J. NELSON⁵,     (611), Clinton Corn Processing Company, A Division of Standard Brands, Inc., Clinton, Iowa 52732

R.M. OLSON,     (491), Moffett Technical Center, Corn Products, Summit-Argo, Illinois 60502

FELIX H. OTEY,     (389), Northern Regional Research Center, Agricultural Research, Science and Education Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Peoria, Illinois 61604

JOHN F. ROBYT,     (87), Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011

ROBERT G. ROWHER,     (529), Grain Processing Corporation, Muscatine, Iowa 52761

MORTON W. RUTENBERG,     (311), Research Department, Industrial Starch and Food Products Divisions, National Starch and Chemical Corporation, Bridgewater, New Jersey 08807

R.V. SCHANEFELT,     (575), A. E. Staley Manufacturing Company, Decatur, Illinois 62525

JACK C. SHANNON,     (25), Department of Horticulture, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802

EILEEN MAYWALD SNYDER,     (661, 675), Moffett Technical Center, Corn Products, Summit-Argo, Illinois 60502

DANIEL SOLAREK,     (311), Research Department, Industrial Starch and Food Products Division, National Starch and Chemical Corporation, Bridgewater, New Jersey 08876

J.V. TUSCHHOFF,     (575), A. E. Staley Manufacturing Company, Decatur, Illinois 62525

STANLEY A. WATSON,     (417), Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, The Ohio State University, Wooster, Ohio 44691

ROY L. WHISTLER,     (1, 153), Department of Biochemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907

AUSTIN H. YOUNG,     (249), A. E. Staley Manufacturing Company, Decatur, Illinois 62525

HENRY F. ZOBEL,     (285), Moffett Technical Center, Corn Products, Summit-Argo, Illinois 60502

¹Present address: Department of Foods and Nutrition, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907.

²Deceased.

³Present address: Garwood Seed Co., Stonington, Illinois 62567.

⁴Present address: Grain Processing Corporation, Muscatine, Iowa 52761.

⁵Present address: Corporate Technology Group, Wilton Technology Center, Nabisco Brands, Inc., Wilton, Connecticut 06897.

⁶Present address: Process Chemical Development, Chemax, Inc., Portland, Oregon 97210.

PREFACE

A major change has occurred during the past few years in the way starch is processed from corn, in the way starch is used, and in the way it is chemically modified for speciality use. In fact, corn wet milling has changed so dramatically that it might be said an entire new wet-milling industry has been created.

When the first edition of this treatise appeared in 1965–1966, the wet-milling industry was just beginning to move from batch operations, tables, and screens to continuous processing. Innovations have now brought the industry to a highly sophisticated level with up-to-date, state-of-the-art, continuous, economical processes for conversion of corn to starch and on to d-glucose of excellent quality. A significant further development was the introduction of advanced enzyme engineering to convert high-purity d-glucose to a mixture of d-glucose and d-fructose equivalent to invert sugar from sucrose, thereby opening to the corn industry the hitherto unavailable but enormous market in sweeteners. Solid entry into this market is provided by the stability of corn supply and the low cost of producing d-glucose–d-fructose syrup. The result is to provide a sound domestic supply of sweetener.

Marketing of corn starch derivatives has also changed, not only with a limitation of the number of derivatives offered but with some derivatization being transferred from starch producers to starch users. This is especially marked in starches used by the paper industry, but perhaps will occur with other large-scale users of starch. The present trend is for starch producers to sell unmodified pearl starch to paper producers who make their own particular modification in slurry and capture the produced solubles through absorption on the paper fibers and clay particles. Hence, solubles are not lost but are saved to serve functionally in the sheet formation. The capture of solubles results in a cost savings. On-site modification of starch is economical also because the product need not be dried for shipment but can be used before secondary effects bring about property changes.

While the number of starch derivatives has been reduced, the quality of derivatives has been vastly increased due to new reaction procedures that yield products fitting specific user requirements.

The first two chapters deal with history and present economics of the starch industry. The third chapter gives in detail the genetics and development of starch. Chapters IV and V describe the enzyme chemistry of starch. Chapters VI–IX present chemical and physical information on the structure and behavior of the starch granule and on the fractionation, structure, and properties of starch molecules. Chapters X and XI describe reactions of starch, its conversion to specific derivatives, and their applications. Chapters XII–XVI describe the production and use of the commercial starches: corn, tapioca, arrowroot, sago, rice, wheat, and potato. Chapters XVII–XX give specific attention to the use of starch in the paper industry, in foods, and in adhesives, with attention also to acid modification of starch. Chapter XXI describes the process for conversion of starch to d-glucose and to d-glucose–d-fructose sweeteners. The final two chapters give excellent photographs of starches and present techniques for first examination of a starch.

It is hoped that this addition may be useful to research workers, chemical engineers, technical sales personnel, and people associated with the legal profession who wish to learn more about starch.

With emphasis on the fundamental and practical aspects of starch, information on analytical and experimental laboratory procedures is somewhat restricted. A complete treatment of the specialized methods needed in work with starch and starch fractions is given in Methods in Carbohydrate Chemistry, Volume IV (Roy L. Whistler, ed., Academic Press, New York, 1964), which should be used as companion volume to the present review.

Although documentation of material presented is quite complete, descriptions should not be construed as indicating that the use of the procedures or processes described are free from patent restrictions.

The editors are grateful to the authors for their ready response to the request to contribute and for their kindness and understanding in accepting editorial efforts.

Gratitude is expressed to the individual starch manufacturers. Each member company of the Corn Refiners Association has been enthusiastically interested in this undertaking.

ROY L. WHISTLER, JAMES N. BEMILLER and EUGENE F. PASCHALL

CONTENTS OF PREVIOUS VOLUMES

Volume I

Fundamental Aspects

Chapter I. Starch—Its Past and Future

Roy L. Whistler

Chapter II. History of the Corn Starch Industry

H. E. Bode

Chapter III. Economics and Future of the Starch Industry

Paul L. Farris

Chapter IV. Genic Control of Starch Development

M. S. Zuber

Chapter V. Occurrence and Development of Starch in Plants

N. P. Badenhuizen

Chapter VI. Minor Constituents of Starch

Rezsoe Gracza

Chapter VII. Enzymes in Synthesis and Hydrolysis of Starch

John H. Pazur

Chapter VIII. The Oligo- and Megalosaccharides of Starch

John A. Thoma

Chapter IX. Cycloamyloses

John A. Thoma and Lynn Stewart

Chapter X. Chemical Evidence for the Structure of Starch

M. L. Wolfrom and H. El Khadem

Chapter XI. Crystalline Nature of Starch

B. Zaslow

Chapter XII. Gelatinization of Starch

Harry W. Leach

Chapter XIII. Organic Complexes and Coordination Compounds of Carbohydrates

J. N. BeMiller

Chapter XIV. Fractionation of Starch

Roy L. Whistler

Chapter XV. Physical Properties of Amylose and Amylopectin in Solution

Joseph F. Foster

Chapter XVI. Mechanical Properties of Starch Pastes

Raymond R. Myers and Carl J. Knauss

Chapter XVII. Radiation of Starch

Roy L. Whistler and T. R. Ingle

Chapter XVIII. Pyrolysis of Starch

D. Horton

Chapter XIX. Nondegradative Reactions of Starch

Hugh J. Roberts

Chapter XX. Acid Hydrolysis and Other Lytic Reactions of Starch

J. N. BeMiller

Chapter XXI. Alkaline Degradation of Starch

J. N. BeMiller

Author Index—Subject Index

Volume II

Industrial Aspects

Chapter I. Manufacture of Corn and Milo Starches

Stanley A. Watson

Chapter II. Manufacture of Wheat Starch

Roy A. Anderson

Chapter III. The Manufacture of Rice Starch

J. T. Hogan

Chapter IIIa. Properties and Uses of Rice Starch

T. J. Schoch

Chapter IV. Manufacture of Potato Starch

R. H. Treadway

Chapter V. Manufacture of Tapioca, Arrowroot, and Sago Starches

Lee Shipman

Chapter VI. Starch in the Paper Industry

Edward K. Nissen

Chapter VII. Starch in the Textile Industry

Jack Compton and W. H. Martin

Chapter VIII. Starch in the Food Industry

Elizabeth M. Osman

Chapter IX. Production and Uses of Acid-Modified Starch

Paul Shildneck and C. E. Smith

Chapter X. Production and Use of Hypochlorite-Oxidized Starches

Barrett L. Scallet and Ernest A. Sowell

Chapter XI. Production and Use of Starch Dextrins

R. B. Evans and O. B. Wurzburg

Chapter XII. Modification and Uses of Wheat Starch

J. W. Knight

Chapter XIII. Starch Derivatives

Hugh J. Roberts

Chapter XIV. Production and Uses of Starch Phosphates

R. M. Hamilton and E. F. Paschall

Chapter XV. Production and Uses of Starch Acetates

L. H. Kruger and M. W. Rutenberg

Chapter XVI. Production and Uses of Cationic Starches

E. F. Paschall

Chapter XVII. Production and Uses of Hydroxyethylstarch

Erling T. Hjermstad

Chapter XVIII. Production and Use of Diaidehyde Starch

C. L. Mehltretter

Chapter XIX. Production and Use of Cross-Linked Starch

Clifford H. Hullinger

Chapter XX. Production and Use of Amylose

David P. Langlois and John A. Wagoner

Chapter XXI. High-Amylose Corn Starch: Its Production, Properties, and Uses

F. R. Senti

Chapter XXII. Production and Use of Pregelatinized Starch

Eugene L. Powell

Chapter XXIII. Production and Uses of Starch Adhesives

Eric F. W. Dux

Chapter XXIV. Production and Use of Dextrose

E. R. Kooi and F. C. Armbruster

Chapter XXV. Characterization and Analysis of Starches

Robert J. Smith

Chapter XXVI. Industrial Microscopy of Starches

Thomas J. Schoch and Eileen C. Maywald

Chapter XXVII. Photographs of Starches

Gerald P. Wivinis (Technical Photographer) and Eileen C. Maywald

Author Index—Subject Index

CHAPTER I

HISTORY AND FUTURE EXPECTATION OF STARCH USE

ROY L. WHISTLER,     Department of Biochemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana

Publisher Summary

Starch is the lowest priced and most abundant worldwide commodity. It is produced in most countries and is available at low cost in all countries. Its level price over many years is impressive and makes it especially attractive as an industrial raw material. Its production by the wet-milling industry has continued to increase and may increase at a faster rate because starch takes more of the sweetener market and as governments subsidize ethanol production. The birth of enzyme engineering made possible the low cost conversion of starch to D-glucose and on to an equilibrium mixture of D-glucose and D-fructose equivalent in sweetness to invert sugar from cane or beet. With the development of more sophisticated methods of enzyme chemistry, it will become possible to transform starch into novel molecules possessing new properties suitable for new applications.

I Introduction

II Early History

III American Development

1. Present American Companies

IV Waxy Corn

V High-Amylose Corn

VI Future of Starch

VII References

I INTRODUCTION

Although the past is usually prologue to the future, industrial usage of starch will be greater than normal methods of economic projection would indicate. Even though starch usage has shown a steady, rapid rate of growth over an extended period of time, new events are increasing demand for starch in an ever upward direction.

The birth of enzyme engineering made possible low cost conversion of starch to d-glucose and on to an equilibrium mixture of d-glucose and d-fructose equivalent in sweetness to invert sugar from cane or beet. This process alone made possible an immediate seizure of 30% of the sucrose market in the United States and doubled the amount of starch produced by the wet milling industry. With development of even more sophisticated methods of enzyme chemistry, it will become possible to transform starch into novel molecules possessing new properties suitable for entirely new applications.

A second event that makes projections for starch use difficult, but still suggests an upward demand, is the increased price of energy. This places new usage requirements on low cost starch to serve as a source of alcohol, components for plastics, special absorbents, paper extenders, oil well drilling muds, and as an additive of tertiary oil recovery systems, the potential requirement for the latter being enormous.

A third, large area of starch usage, more accurately predictable, is as a basic food to supply nutritional requirements of the growing world population (Fig. 1). Traditionally, carbohydrates supply 80% of the calories consumed by the human population with two-thirds of these calories coming from starch. Now that starch can be economically converted to sweeteners, it will supply a greater proportion of nutritional calories. Then too, as meat costs rise, the amount of carbohydrates consumed in the diet of populations in developed countries may increase over present levels.

FIG. 1 World population growth.

Each of these considerations indicates a firm place for starch as a future industrial raw material.

II EARLY HISTORY

Starchy foods have always been an item in the diet of man. It is natural, therefore, that the practical use of starch products, and later of starch itself, should have developed in an early period. Some developments are cloaked in the predawn twilight of the unrecorded past. Strips of Egyptian papyrus, cemented together with a starchy adhesive and dated to the predynastic period of 3500–4000 b.c., give evidence of the early use of starch. However, a description of starch and its application is not found until much more recent times. The historian and philosopher, Caius Plinius Secundus (Pliny the Elder, 23–74 a.d.), described documents of 130 b.c. made by sizing papyrus with modified wheat starch to produce a smooth surface. The adhesive was made from fine ground wheat flour, boiled with a dilute solution of vinegar. The paste was spread over strips of papyrus; the strips beaten with a mallet and further strips lapped over the edges to give a broader sheet. Pliny stated that the 200-year-old sheets which he observed were still in good condition. Pliny also described the use of starch to whiten cloth and to powder hair. Chinese paper documents of about 312 a.d. are reported to contain starch size (1). Later, Chinese documents were first coated with a high-fluidity starch to provide resistance to ink penetration and then covered with powdered starch to provide weight and thickness. Starches from rice, wheat, and barley were commonly used at that time.

A procedure for starch production was given in some detail in a Roman treatise by Cato in about 184 b.c. (2). Grain was steeped in water for 10 days, pressed and mixed with fresh water, then filtered on a linen cloth, after which the starch in the filtrate was allowed to settle, washed with water, and finally dried in the sun.

Modified starches used for adhesives or to provide a sweet molasses developed at an early period. Hydrolysis was a common method of modification, and vinegar as well as amylolytic enzymes were used. Abu Mansur (3), an Arabian teacher and pharmacologist, was acquainted with the use of saliva on starch for producing an artificial honey used for treating wounds.

Starch was introduced into Northern Europe to stiffen linen, possibly early in the fourteenth century. Colored and uncolored starches were used as cosmetics. Uncolored starch was used principally as a hair powder. Blue starch was employed by the Puritans until its use was banned by Queen Elizabeth in 1596. Yellow starch was quite fashionable until a notorious woman prisoner wearing a bright yellow-starched ruffle was publicly executed. Red starch cosmetics remained in fashion for many years.

Leeuwenhoek (4), the inventor of the microscope, made intensive and accurate observations of starch granules in 1719 and a dictionary (5) describing starch and its manufacture was published in 1744.

As starch became a more important industrial commodity, work was done on its modification. This included the great discovery of Kirchoff in 1811 that sugar could be produced from potato starch by acid-catalyzed hydrolysis. Then, there was the accidental discovery of the torrefaction method for producing dextrins, now termed British gums. In 1821, a fire occurred in a Dublin textile mill that utilized starch as a size. After the blaze was extinguished, one of the workmen noticed that some of the starch had been turned brown by the heat and dissolved easily in water to produce a thick, adhesive paste. The roasting of new starch was repeated and the product was shown to have the useful properties previously observed. In this way, heat dextrinization became known and subsequently elaborated into wide usage.

In Europe, early use of wheat and barley starch gave way to white potato starch, which was produced in large quantities in The Netherlands and Germany.

III AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT

The first American wheat starch plant was started by Gilbert (6) at Utica, New York in 1807, but was converted to one producing corn starch in 1849. The change from wheat to corn starch began with Thomas Kingsford’s development in 1842 of a manufacturing process in which crude corn starch was purified by alkaline treatment. The wheat starch plant of George Fox started in 1824 at Cincinnati was also converted to a corn starch plant in 1854. The William Colgate wheat starch plant built in Jersey City in 1827 was changed to a corn starch plant in 1844. Thomas Kingsford was hired by the Colgate Company in 1832 and became its superintendent in 1842. Another early wheat starch plant was that of T. Barnett built in Philadelphia in 1817 before moving to Knowlton, Pennsylvania, in 1879, and ceasing operation in 1895. In that year, there were five wheat starch and sixteen corn starch plants operating in the United States. The corn starch plants produced 200 million pounds of starch per year.

Potato starch manufacture began in 1820 in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire. Usage of potato starch grew rapidly until in 1895, sixty-four factories were in operation, of which fourty-four were in Maine. They produced 24 million pounds of starch per year during approximately 3 months of operation. Most of the starch was sold to the textile industry.

Rice starch manufacture, using caustic treatment of rice, began in 1815. However, production did not increase significantly and the little rice starch later used was mainly imported.

Following Kirchoff’s finding (7) in 1811 that sweet dextrose (d-glucose) could be produced by acid-catalyzed hydrolysis of starch, factories were built to produce sweet syrups. Within a year, factories were built in Munich, Dresden, Bochman, and Thorin. By 1876, Germany alone had forty-seven dextrose syrup factories using potato starch to produce 33 million pounds of syrup and 11 million pounds of solid sweetener.

An American syrup plant of 30 gallon per day capacity was started in 1831 at Sacket Harbor, New York, but soon failed. A large plant was built by the Hamlins in 1873 at Buffalo, New York. In 1883, the Chicago Sugar Refinery Company began the manufacture of dextrose but soon added starch and modified starches.

In 1880, there were one-hundred forty starch plants producing corn, wheat, potato, and rice starches. Most were small and located along the Atlantic coast. The largest was the Glen Cove, New York, plant producing 65 million pounds of corn starch per year.

Thomas Kingsford and Son built a starch plant at Oswego, New York, in 1849 that continued to operate until destroyed by fire in 1903. The corn starch plant built in 1855 by Wright Duryea of Glen Cove, Long Island, became the largest starch factory in the United States in 1891, grinding 7000 bushels of corn per day. First designated the Duryea Starch Works, the name was changed in 1881 to the Glen Cove Manufacturing Company.

The corn starch plant built in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1867 by William F. Piel, Sr., was destroyed by fire in 1872. A second plant was closed by the city because of the environmental problem of fermentation odor from gluten overflow water. This led to the construction of a larger and more efficient plant in 1873.

By 1890 the number of American starch plants had decreased to eighty, producing 240 million pounds of starch per year. Although many small plants were built, they could not compete, and in 1890 a consolidation of several occurred to become the National Starch Manufacturing Company of Kentucky, representing 70% of the corn starch capacity. The consolidation included the Duryea plant at Glen Cove, the Piel plant at Indianapolis, and eighteen plants in Ohio, Illinois, Iowa, and Indiana. The firm built a new modern plant at Des Moines, Iowa, in 1899. Some of the independents then combined in the same year to form the United Starch Company. Among these independents were Thomas Kingsford and Sons, the U.S. Sugar Refining Company at Waukegan, Illinois, founded in 1888, the Argo Starch Company at Nebraska City, Nebraska, founded in 1894, and the Sioux City Starch Company, founded in 1896. In 1900 the United Starch Company and the National Starch Manufacturing Company combined to form the National Starch Company of New Jersey. Kingsford reported (6) that in 1895 there were sixteen corn starch factories producing 200 million pounds of starch per year and grinding 29,000 bushels of corn per day.

In 1902, the Glucose Sugar Refining Company joined with the National Starch Company to form the Corn Products Company that then represented 80% of the corn starch industry with a daily grind of 65,000 bushels. The Corn Products Company also included the Illinois Sugar Refining Company at Pekin, Illinois, and 49% of the stock of the New York Glucose Company formed by E. T. Bedford and Associates at Edgewater, New Jersey. A disastrous price war then ensued between Corn Products Company and the New York Glucose Company because of the refusal of the latter to allow Corn Products Company more than 50% stock ownership. The result was a merger in 1906 of the two combatants to form the Corn Products Refining Company, with a grinding capacity of 140,000 bushels of corn per day, which soon was reduced to 110,000 bushels or 74% of the United States total.

Also, in 1906 the Western Glucose Company was incorporated to become later the American Maize Company, the National Candy Company was incorporated to become later the Clinton Sugar Refining Company, and the Staley Company of Decatur, Illinois, began. In 1913 antitrust action caused the Corn Products Refining Company to spin off the Granite City, Illinois, the Davenport, Iowa, and the Oswego plants.

In 1958 Corn Products Refining Company acquired Best Foods Company and changed the parent name once again to Corn Products Company.

Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc., which built a cornstarch plant in 1923 at St. Louis, Missouri, sold its only starch-producing facility at Lafayette, Indiana, to the A. E. Staley Manufacturing Company in 1981.

1 Present American Companies

Today, CPC International Inc. (Corn Products Company) has plants at Argo, Illinois; Pekin, Illinois; North Kansas City, Missouri; Stockton, California; and Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

The A. E. Staley Manufacturing Company that built its Decatur, Illinois plant in 1912 now has plants at Decatur, Illinois; Morrisville, Pennsylvania; Lafayette, Indiana; and Loudon, Tennessee.

American Maize-Products Company, started at Roby, Indiana, in 1908, now has plants at Hammond, Indiana and Decatur, Alabama.

Penick and Ford Ltd., beginning in 1902 as the Douglas Starch Company at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is now a subsidiary of Univar Corporation.

Clinton Corn Processing Company, Inc., with plants at Clinton, Iowa, and Montezuma, New York, formerly a subsidiary of Nabisco Brands Incorporated, has been leased to ADM Foods.

National Starch and Chemical Corporation, with a plant at Indianapolis, Indiana, is a subsidiary of Unilever Corporation.

The Hubinger Company, with a plant at Keokuk, Iowa, is a subsidiary of H. J. Heinz Company.

ADM Foods, a division of Archer Daniels Midland Company, with plants at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Decatur, Illinois, has leased Clinton Corn Processing Company, Inc.

Amstar Corporation has a plant at Dimmitt, Texas.

Cargill, Incorporated has plants at Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Dayton, Ohio; and Memphis, Tennessee.

IV WAXY CORN

Starch has many applications in the food and non-food industry, but usual starches are mixtures of linear and branched polysaccharides. These molecules have very different physical properties, and starches composed of only one component have special properties that open new and broader applications and lead to specialized uses for which regular starches are unsuited.

One unusual genetic variety of corn arose in China among the corn plants transferred from the Americas. This was a corn whose starch granules contained no linear molecules, but only branched molecules. It stained red with iodine, not blue as do ordinary starches. When the corn kernel was cut with a knife, the cut surface appeared shiny as though it contained wax. Hence the corn was called waxy corn, though no wax was present. Waxy corn was brought to the United States in the first years of the twentieth century and remained a curiosity at experiment stations until World War II cut off the supply of tapioca from the East Indies. During a search for a replacement, waxy corn starch was found suitable. Iowa state geneticists developed the waxy corn in their possessions to a high-yielding hybrid. It was introduced as a contract crop and has continued to serve as a valuable speciality starch. It has continued in use because of its unique properties and because the corn crop also supplies quality oil and protein. Although other similar starches, such as waxy sorghum and glutinous rice, are composed only of branched molecules, they have not had the industrial acceptance of waxy corn.

V HIGH-AMYLOSE CORN

The linear polysaccharide of normal starches has the common property of linear molecules in its ability to form junction zones, crystallize in part, and form films and even fibers of high strength and flexibility. Amylose can simulate the behavior of cellulose in many important applications. Thus, in 1946, R. L. Whistler and H. H. Kramer, a geneticist, set about to produce a corn modification that would be the opposite of waxy corn, in which the starch would be composed only of linear (amylose) molecules. Much was learned about the effect of specialized genes on endosperm composition. The two investigators were able to raise the amylose content from the normal of 25% to 65%. Toward the end of their work, and subsequently, others entered into genetic programs; the amylose content was increased to 85%, with 65–70% being common in varieties made commercially.

As world demands for polymers grow and prices of polymers made from petrochemical sources increase, it may be expected that starch amylose, and likely high-amylose corn, will assume a stronger place as an industrial commodity.

VI FUTURE OF STARCH

Changing world economics is making it more practical to obtain chemicals from agriculture. Both academic and industrial investigators are giving more attention to developing technologies for converting agricultural products to chemicals and to methods for modifying starch, cellulose, and sucrose.

Starch is the lowest priced and most abundant worldwide commodity. It is produced in most countries and is available at low cost in all countries. Its level price over many years is impressive and makes it especially attractive as an industrial raw material (Table I). Its production by the wet-milling industry has continued to increase (Table II) and may increase at a faster rate as starch takes more of the sweetener market (Table III) and as governments subsidize ethanol production.

Table I

Corn Price

Table II

Wet-Milled Corn

Table III

U.S. Population Sweetene Cr onsumptio n(Pounds per capita)

VII. REFERENCES

1. Wiesner, J. Papier-Fabr.. 1911; 9:886.

2. Marcus Porcius Censorius Cato, De Agriculture, 184 B.C., Scriptores rei Rustica.

3. Abu Mansur Muwaffak, of Hirow, North Persia (975 A.D.). Translation in Vol. III of Kobert’s Historische Studien, Halle (1893) as quoted by R. P. Walton, in A Comprehensive Survey of Starch Chemistry, Chemical Catalog Co., New York, 1928, Part 1, p. 236.

4. A. van Leeuwenhoek Epistolae Physiologicae super compluribus Naturae Arcanus, Epistolae XXVI, 1719.

5. Universal Lexikon des Gegenwart vergangenheit, H. A. Pierer, ed., Altenburg, Germany, Vol. 1, 1733; Vol. 15, 1737; Vol. 39, 1744.

6. Kingsford, T.De Pew M., ed. One Hundred Years of American Commerce. D. O. Haynes: New York, 1895:456.

7. Kerchoff, G.S.C. Acad. Imp. Sci. St. Petersbourg, Mem.. 1811; 4:27. [see Schweigger’s Beitr. Chem. Physik (Nurenberg), 4, 27(1811), in R. P. Walton, A Comprehensive Survey of Starch Chemistry, Chemical Catalog Co., New York, 1928, Part 2, p. 1].

CHAPTER II

ECONOMICS AND FUTURE OF THE STARCH INDUSTRY

PAUL L. FARRIS,     Department of Agricultural Economics, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana

Publisher Summary

This chapter highlights the economic features of the starch industry in the United States, emphasizing the demand prospects and industry organization. The starch industry refers to the producers of commercial starch. Commercial starch is an important ingredient in manufacturing a wide range of industrial products, such as paper, textiles, and building materials. Commercial starch in the United States is made primarily from corn by the wet-milling industry. The industrial organization and behavior of the corn wet-milling industry seems unlikely to change drastically in the near future. Further product diversification may occur as the firms succeed in developing new products for a growing and changing consumer market. The production of starch derivatives will probably occur largely in other types of plants or in starch consuming industries, such as the paper industry. Plant automation is expected to increase, and new semi-wet-milling technologies may lead to increased efficiency in pearl starch production.

I Introduction

II Statistical Estimation of the Demand for Starch

III Projected Future Volumes of Corn Likely to Be Used by the Wet-Milling Industry

1. Evaluation of the Projections

2. Foreign Trade in Starch

IV Organization of the Corn Wet-Milling Industry

1. Rates of Return in Corn Refining

2. Future Industry Organization

V References

I INTRODUCTION

This chapter highlights the economic features of the starch industry in the United States, giving particular emphasis to demand prospects and industry organization. The starch industry, as defined here, refers to producers of commercial starch. Man consumes starch both from foods to which commercial starch, or products made from commercial starch, have been added, as well as from search-bearing plants. Commercial starch also is an important ingredient in manufacturing a wide range of industrial products, such as paper, textiles, and building materials.

Commercial starch in the United States is made primarily from corn by the wet-milling industry. The term wet-milling is used because the corn is wet when it is ground and water is used as the suspension medium during most of the other operations.

Corn and relatively small quantities of sorghum (milo) grains are the basic materials used by the corn wet-milling industry. Annual utilization of corn by this industry fluctuated between 55 and 83 million bushels during the 1930s. Utilization increased rapidly during the 1940s and has continued to rise steadily through the 1970s (Table I).

Table I

Corn Produce dfor Grain, Corn Sold from Farms, and Wet-Proces Gs rindings for Selected Periods, 1929–1970, and Annual, 1963–1981a

aSource: Referencse 1, p. 14, and 2.

bYears beginning October 1.

cSeries discontinue

Of the corn produced for grain in the United States, the percentage used by the corn wet-milling industry has shown a slightly rising trend, from around 3.5% in the 1930s to over 5.5% in the 1970s. However, because much corn is used on the farms where it is produced, the proportion sold from farms that has been taken by the wet-milling industry has been around 9% in the last decade. The proportion was about 20% in the 1940s. The proportion fluctuated greatly during the 1930s, dropping as low as 12% and rising to over 30% in the major drought years of 1934 and 1936.

A typical bushel of corn weighing 56 pounds yields about 34 pounds of starch, 2 pounds of oil, 11 pounds of animal feed (gluten and hull), and nine pounds of water (3). Some of the starch is converted to other products, such as sweeteners, by corn refiners. During the 1970s, about 15 pounds of starch per bushel of wet-process corn grindings were shipped as starch, and the remainder was used by corn refining companies to manufacture other products. Starch shipments, as a percent of the total value of products shipped by the industry, declined from around one-third in 1963 to about one-fifth in 1977 (Table II).

Table I

Corn Starcha Shipment sby the Corn Wet-Milling Industry (Census Industry 2046)b

aIncludes sorghum (milo) starc

bSourc:e Referenec 4.

II STATISTICAL ESTIMATION OF THE DEMAND FOR STARCH

Because starch use permeates the entire economy, the demand for starch in any particular year depends rather directly on the level of national income and output. The growth of the starch industry relative to the growth of the general economy depends on a number of factors, including changes in the composition of national income and output, changes in the technology of industrial processes, the development of new products, and changes in the availability and prices of substitutes for starch.

The most important general indicator of change in the demand for starch is the gross national product (GNP) of the United States (Table III). From the early 1930s to the mid-1960s, the quantity of corn processed by the corn wet-milling industry rose at about two-thirds the rate of increase in GNP. Growth in utilization of corn by the wet-milling industry began to accelerate in the mid-1960s, reflecting the development and improvement of high-fructose corn syrup and major market expansion for this new product. Corn wet-grindings approximately doubled between 1966 and 1980 while GNP (in constant dollars) rose about 50%. (The price of corn tends to affect inversely the amount of corn taken by the wet-milling industry, but the influence is not great.)

Table III

Price of Corn, U.S. Gross National Product, and Wet-Proces Gsrindings: Calendar Years 1929–1966

aSource: Reference 5

cSource: Reference 7

dSource: References 1, p. 38, and 8, p. 30.

To quantify the influences of these factors, a multiple regression equation was fitted to data for the 1929–1941 and 1953–1966 years. The data for 1942–1952 were omitted because of economic dislocations associated with the war and early postwar years. Years after 1966 were not included in the time span selected for regression analysis because the growth in corn sweetener production clearly had changed. The variables, all on a calendar year basis, were as follows:

Y = Corn wet-process grindings, in millions of bushels. This variable is used as a measure of the quantity of starch and starch related products produced in the United States.

X1 = Price of corn, No. 3 at Chicago, in dollars deflated by BLS Wholesale Price Index (1967 = 100). This variable is used to reflect the real cost of the raw product input.

X2 = GNP in billions of dollars in constant 1972 prices. This variable is used to reflect the composite real demands for starch.

X3 = Time (29, 30, 31, etc., for appropriate years). This variable is to account for long-time trends in technology, changes in the composition of national industrial activity and income, and other systematic influences associated with the passing of time.

The estimated relationship is given in Eq (1) with the standard errors in parentheses.

1

Here we see that for one billion dollars increase in GNP, there was associated with it an average increase in wet process grindings of 252,000 bushels of corn. A change of one cent per bushel in the price of corn was associated with an opposite change of about 81,000 bushels in the utilization of corn by this industry; assuming constant levels of corn prices and GNP, there was a tendency for annual wet process grindings to decline by about 1.29 million bushels each year.

At average corn prices for the 27-year-period, these relationships indicate a very inelastic response to price of quantity of corn taken by the industry. A 1% change in the price of corn was associated with a change in the opposite direction of about 0.10% in wet-process grindings. On the other hand, a 1% change in GNP was associated with a 1.12% change in the same direction of wet-process grindings. (These elasticities were measured at mean levels of all independent variables for the 1929–1941 and 1953–1966 periods.)

III PROJECTED FUTURE VOLUMES OF CORN LIKELY TO BE USED BY THE WET-MILLING INDUSTRY

In projecting future growth of the corn wet-milling industry, the total market potential was divided into two components, the composite demand excluding high-fructose corn syrup and a separate estimate for high-fructose corn syrup. These two separate estimates were then combined into overall industry projections in 1985 and 1990.

The regression equation estimated above was employed in projecting industry demand exclusive of high-fructose corn syrup. In order to examine the reliability of the regression relationships derived from the historical period ending in 1966, a prediction was made for 1978. In that year, with GNP at $1,438.6 billion (in 1972 dollars) and corn at $1.10 per bushel (in 1967 dollars or $2.25 in current dollars), predicted wet-process grindings were about 313 million bushels.

High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) sales were 1.25 million tons (dry basis) in 1978 (9). Assuming 33.35 pounds per bushel (10), 1978 utilization of corn for high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) required about 75 million bushels of corn. Adding this figure to the utilization estimate given by the regression equation, 313 million, gives a total estimated corn grind for 1978 of 388 million bushels. The actual grind was reported to be 400 million bushels, indicating the regression equation prediction was too low. This might have occurred because either some omitted influence was involved, the basic underlying relationship had changed, or the linear relationships assumed in the regression model were not appropriate. Thus, in employing the equation for projections to 1985 and 1990, the estimates could be more likely to err on the low than on the high side.

Because of the phenomenal growth of HFCS beginning in the mid-1960s, the projection of the separate demand for this new product is added to the regression projections exclusive of HFCS. By 1981, HFCS consumption alone was over 23 pounds per person, which was about 18% of total caloric sweetener consumption (Table IV). Total corn sweeteners, including HFCS, rose from 13.5% of total caloric sweetener consumption in the United States in 1966 to 35% in 1981.

Table IV

Corn Sweetene Cr onsumptio inn the United States, 1963–1981a

aSource: Reference 9, p. 27.

In developing a projection for HFCS consumption to add to the composite projection obtained with the regression equation, there is an implicit assumption that the HFCS market demand is a net addition to demand for corn sweetener products. This assumption may not be entirely accurate; however, the principal growth in demand for HFCS is expected to be as a substitute for sugar. Carman and Thor indicated that per capita consumption of glucose corn syrup, dextrose, and minor caloric sweeteners is likely to continue at present levels. (See reference 11, p. 50.)

Nevertheless, the growth rate of high-fructose corn syrup consumption is at some point expected to reach an overall market saturation potential. Carman and Thor predicted that the most likely ceiling values would be in the range of 20% to 30% of total sweetener sales, which indicates considerable further growth from the approximately 18% market penetration achieved by HFCS in 1981. (See reference 11, p. 44.) Taking various factors into account, Carman and Thor estimated that corn used for the manufacture of high-fructose corn syrup would range between 173 and 241 million bushels in 1985 and from 197 to 288 million bushels in 1990. Midpoints in these ranges were added to the projections for ongoing composite demands for corn to be used in making other products produced by the wet-milling industry (Table V).

Table V

Projected Wet-Proces Csorn Grinding sin 1985 and 1990 Based on Selected Assumptions

aThis was the approximae tannula growht rate which prevailde between 1969–1971 and 1976–1978.

bThis was the approximae t annula growht rate which prevailde between 1959–1961 and 1969–1971

cBased on relationshsip shown in the regressnio equatio, n with the price of corn assumde at 1.10/bushl ein 1967 dollar.

dMidpoinst of the range, s 173 to 241 million tons in 1985 and 197 to 288 million tons in 1990, projectde by Carman and Thor (77), p. 52

The combined estimates indicate a potential growth in demand for corn by the wet-milling industry to about 600 million bushels in 1985 and 700 million bushels or more in 1990. If the projections are realized, the industry will have grown 50% above its 1978 level by 1985 and 75% by 1990.

1 Evaluation of the Projections

A number of considerations are involved in making projections. One of these is the selection of the period from which projections are to be made, another is the determination of relationships within the period. Still another is the necessity of projecting the variables that have been found to be related to the variable in which one is interested. Judgment is involved at each step. Nevertheless, projections can be useful in indicating probable trends associated with the selection of certain underlying assumptions.

The regression projections are based on a period spanning several years in which abnormal or unusual years were eliminated. The linear regression model used is a relatively simple one; nevertheless, it is believed to be a logical expression of relationships between the dependent variable and variables systematically related to the growth of the starch industry.¹ The projections of the price of corn in real terms is within current expectations of trends in grain prices in the future. The alternative projections of GNP are the most important and most crucial. It is believed that they realistically bracket the probable future growth trend of the economy based on past experience.

In order to evaluate the projections further, some qualitative appraisal must be made of influences associated with possibilities of changes in the composition of national output, changes in industrial processes, and changes in the prices and availability of substitutes for starch. Insofar as changes in the composition of gross national output are concerned, the most likely trend is for a continuing rise in the primary starch-using industries.

The growth in edible uses of starch, primarily as sweeteners, seems highly promising. The total industry may be stimulated toward added growth as corn is used as an ingredient in production of alcohol for fuel. The potential of alcohol in the liquid fuel market will depend basically on the relative prices of alternative fuels and on the combination of public policies with respect to subsidies and incentives which prevail relative to liquid energy.

In summary, there appears to be considerable growth potential for the corn wet-milling industry in the foreseeable future. There will certainly continue to be challenges to markets for starch by various substitute products. However, new starch products are also being found to penetrate markets previously closed to starch. While it is impossible to foresee what technological breakthroughs may be forthcoming, there are certainly possibilities for starch to maintain or even to improve its position relative to the substitute products. The expected growth of the economy and the changing composition of its output make the projections seem realistic and portend a substantial growth in the market for starch in the 1980s.

2 Foreign Trade in Starch

Both potato starch and tapioca were imported in small quantities very early in American history. Potato starch came from Germany and tapioca from the Netherlands East Indies. From 1895 to 1905, tapioca came to be used both industrially and for food, and imports increased to 30 to 35 million pounds a year. During this period, the export market for corn starch was also developed, reaching 100 million pounds in 1915. Exports of starch exceeded imports until after 1930, when imports increased markedly and exports fell. Toward the latter part of the 1930s, exports of corn starch began rising again. However, exports account for a relatively small, and declining, share of total U.S. production (Table VI). Currently, imports of starch consist mainly of tapioca, mostly from Thailand. Foreign trade in starch is expected to continue to account for only minor quantities relative to the total U.S. industry.

Table VI

Starch Exports and Imports, Selected Yearsa

aSourc:e Referencse 12 and 13

IV ORGANIZATION OF THE CORN WET-MILLING INDUSTRY (SEE ALSO PAGES 4–6)

The corn wet-milling industry lends itself to large-scale output. Corn product refining is a highly technical business producing a wide range of food and industrial products from virtually a single raw material. Consequently, a large share of the industry’s output is produced by a few firms. The largest four companies accounted for 63% of total industry production in 1977, and the largest eight companies accounted for about 89% (Table VII). The share of industry sales accounted for by the leading firms as a group has declined; however, only a dozen or so companies account for essentially the entire industry output. Most of the companies that are in operation today had their origins during the early years of the twentieth century. Nevertheless, several of the firms have been acquired by other companies, and most of the remaining ones have become increasingly diversified. As a result, corn refining activities for the most part have become divisions within large conglomerate type firms.

Table VII

Percentag eof Total Value of Shipments Accounte fdor by Largest Companies in the Corn Wet-Milling industr y(SIC 2046), Selected Yearsa

aSource: Reference 14, pp. 9–14

The industry had its origin in the East in the 1840s. The entry of new firms accompanied by severe price cutting set the stage for the formation of the National Starch Manufacturing Company in 1890, which brought together some twenty plants that controlled 70% of the output. Cutthroat competition was not stopped, however, and a period of combination and recombination followed which resulted in the formation of the Corn Products Refining Company in 1906. The new company controlled 64% of starch output and 100% of glucose (corn syrup) output.

Nevertheless, relatively easy entry into the industry and new consolidations gradually eroded the position of Corn Products, and this company’s share of corn wet grindings dropped from 95% to 65% by 1914. Corn Products, however, was looked upon as a monopoly, and in 1916, a United States District Court ordered its dissolution. The case was concluded in 1919 when the defendant withdrew an appeal to the United States Supreme Court and consented to dispose of two dextrose mills and of the old National Starch