Potato starch

Potato starch at 200x transmitted light

Description

Potato starch at 200x polarized light

Polysaccharide granules obtained from the common white potato, Solanum tuberosum. Potato starch is primarily used as a thickening agent for foods in Europe while Cornstarch is more commonly use in the United States. When heated with water, potato starch forms a thick, gummy solution that becomes thinner with heating time. It thickens only slightly on cooling to forms a transparent gel that dries to a tough resilient film. Potato starch is used to size paper and textiles. It adds strength and tear resistance to paper.

Synonyms and Related Terms

farina; Arogum [Morningstar-Paisley]; Arojel P

Risks

• Susceptible to biodeterioration.
• Dried films become brittle with age.

Physical and Chemical Properties

• Egg-shaped grains with a faint off-center dark mark (hilum).
• Granule size = 15-100 micrometers.
• Gelatinization temperature = 59-68 C
• Reacts with a iodine/potassium iodide solution to give a positive purple color

Resources and Citations

• G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p. 767

• Rosalie Rosso King, Textile Identification, Conservation, and Preservation, Noyes Publications, Park Ridge, NJ, 1985

• Book and Paper Group, Paper Conservation Catalog, AIC, 1984, 1989

• Encyclopedia Britannica, http://www.britannica.com Comment: "cereal processing" [Accessed April 8, 2002]

• Irving Skeist, Handbook of Adhesives, Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, New York, 1977 Comment: p. 193