The consumer-driven clean-label, plant-based diet, and gluten-free movements call for food ingredients that are easily understood and often reflect cultural heritage and tradition. Thus, the classic “grandma’s” kitchen starch (such as corn starch) and wheat flour are gradually being supplanted or supplemented with other sources of starch and flour.
Starch is a polysaccharide carbohydrate made up of glucose units connected either in a long chain of single or helical strands or in a branched chain. It is the storage form of energy for plants, similar to glycogen, a storage form of energy found primarily in muscle tissue of humans and other mammals.