Starch or amylum is a carbohydrate consisting of a large number of glucose units joined

by glycosidic bonds. 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.
Depending on the plant, starch generally contains 20 to 25% amylose and 75 to 80%
amylopectin by weight.
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Glycogen, the glucose store of animals, is a more branched version of
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 papermakingprocess. 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, andmaize) and
the root vegetables (potatoes and cassava).
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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.
Widely used prepared foods containing starch
are bread, pancakes, cereals, noodles, pasta, porridge and tortilla.
Digestive enzymes have problems digesting crystalline structures. Raw starch will digest poorly
in the duodenum and small intestine, while bacterial degradation will take place mainly in
the colon. When starch is cooked, the digestibility is increased. Hence, before humans started
using fire, eating grains was not a very useful way to get energy.
Starch gelatinization during cake baking can be impaired by sugar competing for water,
preventing gelatinization and improving texture.