What is Potato Starch?
Potato starch is a carbohydrate extract from Irish potatoes. It’s mainly produced in Europe but widely used globally, from China to Brazil, the U.S. and India. Its popularity owes more to the fact that it’s a superior thickener compared to corn starch and wheat flour.
Compared to corn and wheat, potatoes contain relatively long chains of starch molecules, which retrograde less rapidly. This molecular structure significantly minimises the possibility of turbidity and odious textures in food.
Potato starch is often used as a thickener, binder, texturiser, and anti-caking agent in a vast range of foods, from snacks like dry-roasted peanuts to gravies, sauces, soups and many more.
How is Potato Starch Made?
Potato starch is usually a byproduct of culled potatoes, surplus potatoes, and waste streams from potato processing. It's created from starch manufacturing processes that use unique potato cultivars that contain 65 – 80% starch.
The fabrication entails shredding and mashing the potatoes with a saw blade rasp or hammer mill in the presence of sulfur dioxide, which preserves the colour and prevents oxidation.
The food product was then screened to remove skins and fibre and to separate the starch from the potato pulp. The separated starch is soaked in water to remove water-soluble impurities and then subjected to gravity separation to remove other contaminants. At the end of the process, it's drained through vacuum filtration and flash drying.
The Uses of Potato Starch:
Potato starch is often used as a thickener for domestic and commercial cooking. It’s also widely used in pie fillings, instant puddings, sweets, chewing gums, desserts, snacks and many more.
Potato starch is regularly used as a perfect thickener, texturiser, and anti-caking agent in gluten-free recipes across the globe. On the industrial level, potato starch is used in breweries when yeast requires filtration from wort—potato starch is also used as an organic additive in cosmetic and pharmaceutical products and pet food.
