3
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
A. Gani, B. A. Ashwar (eds.), Food biopolymers: Structural, functional
and nutraceutical properties, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27061-2_1
Starch: An Overview
Khalid Gul, Nisar Ahmad Mir, Basharat Yousuf, Farhana Mehraj Allai,
and Savita Sharma
Introduction
Starch is one of the most abundant biopolymers and serves as energy reserve in
many plants including cereals, tubers, roots, fruits and seeds. Starch, the second
largest biomass on earth, is a natural, abundant, cheap, available, renewable, and
biodegradable polymer (Doi et al. 2002; Chandanasree et al. 2016; Le Corre et al.
2010). It is the primary source of stored energy in cereal grains. Although the
amount of starch contained in grains varies, it is generally between 60 and 75% of
the weight of the grain and provides 70–80% of the calories consumed by humans
worldwide.
Commercial starches are obtained from cereal grains, particularly from corn,
wheat, and rice, and from tubers and roots, particularly potato, sweet potato, and
tapioca (cassava). Starch obtained from corn, potatoes, cassava, and wheat in the
K. Gul (*)
Department of Food Process Engineering, National Institute of Technology
Odisha, India
Department of Food Science and Engineering, School of Agriculture and Biology,
Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
N. A. Mir
Department of Food Engineering and Technology, Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering
and Technology, Longowal, India
B. Yousuf
Department of Post-Harvest Engineering and Technology, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences,
Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India
F. M. Allai
Department of Food Technology, Islamic University of Science and Technology,
Awantipora, India
S. Sharma
Department of Food Science and Technology, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, India
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
A. Gani, B. A. Ashwar (eds.), Food biopolymers: Structural, functional
and nutraceutical properties, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27061-2_1
Starch: An Overview
Khalid Gul, Nisar Ahmad Mir, Basharat Yousuf, Farhana Mehraj Allai,
and Savita Sharma
Introduction
Starch is one of the most abundant biopolymers and serves as energy reserve in
many plants including cereals, tubers, roots, fruits and seeds. Starch, the second
largest biomass on earth, is a natural, abundant, cheap, available, renewable, and
biodegradable polymer (Doi et al. 2002; Chandanasree et al. 2016; Le Corre et al.
2010). It is the primary source of stored energy in cereal grains. Although the
amount of starch contained in grains varies, it is generally between 60 and 75% of
the weight of the grain and provides 70–80% of the calories consumed by humans
worldwide.
Commercial starches are obtained from cereal grains, particularly from corn,
wheat, and rice, and from tubers and roots, particularly potato, sweet potato, and
tapioca (cassava). Starch obtained from corn, potatoes, cassava, and wheat in the
K. Gul (*)
Department of Food Process Engineering, National Institute of Technology
Odisha, India
Department of Food Science and Engineering, School of Agriculture and Biology,
Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
N. A. Mir
Department of Food Engineering and Technology, Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering
and Technology, Longowal, India
B. Yousuf
Department of Post-Harvest Engineering and Technology, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences,
Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India
F. M. Allai
Department of Food Technology, Islamic University of Science and Technology,
Awantipora, India
S. Sharma
Department of Food Science and Technology, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, India