Starches are an integral part of virtually every prepared food. As ingredients and macronutrients, these workhorses contribute to structure from their very inception in the plant and serve to nourish the plant (and its consumer) with a wide range of taste and textural variations.
Harvested from grain and turned into ingredients, these multi-faceted carbohydrates act as bulking, thickening, gelling, stabilizing, binding and coating agents—under even some of the harshest conditions associated with industrial manufacturing. Nature offers a seemingly endless variety of starches, and the bounty can be multiplied further via physical, chemical and enzymatic treatments to overcome any inherent deficiencies and expand their array of functionalities and health benefits.