Potato Starch
Potato Starch is a white, fine powdery substance that comes from potatoes. It’s very similar to the other starches out there, and you can use it to increase the crispiness of baked goods, all while being suitable for thickening or texturizing a variety of baked products.
But its use goes beyond that, since you can rely on it or fillings, confections and clear soups, among many others. One thing to note here is that there are high water binding features, as well as a tendency to create viscous pastes. It also does a very good job at delivering a low gelatinization temperature.
That, combined with the fact that it has a very high water binding capacity really makes it a very good and reliable product. On top of that, you can easily create a paste on top of a variety of foods, and that’s what you want to consider the most here.
Origins
The origins of Potato Starch are very hard to pinpoint, but what we do know is that potatoes originally came from south America around 13000 years ago. The Incas were the ones that started to cultivate it, and during the Chile and Peru conquest, Spaniards soon discovered potatoes and they brought them to Europe in 1570. Nowadays you can find potatoes all over the world, a testament to their power and great content.
What’s included in Potato Starch?
Potato Starch has up to 79% amylopectin and 21% or sometimes even more amylose. If you want to use the industrial grade Potato Starch, then it’s normally dried to around 18% the moisture content, and it has 0.1% water solubles, 0.35% ash. And other compounds like sugar and nitrogen. Potato Starch is normally sensitive to calcium and potassium.
Nutritional capabilities
One thing to consider here is that Potato Starch is resistant to digestion. It’s also gluten-free, which is extremely important to keep in mind considering the values and qualities provided by this type of product.
Potato Starch also has a variety of properties like neutral flavoring, high degree of swelling, it creates a clear paste thanks to purity, low gelatinization temperatures, very high binding powers, great film forming and high consistency. These features really make it stand out as a very powerful, dependable ingredient for a variety of baking products and many others.
Potato Starch applications
There are many Potato Starch that you need to know about. For example, it can be a cold thickener in pastry fillings and pies. It can also be good for toppings and glazing in confections too. Then there are fast replacers which use Potato Starch, not to mention that you can also use it for fresh products where you don’t really need prolonged storage. This includes things like food coatings, sauces and mashed potatoes, among many others.
You can also use Potato Starch to boost the anti-stalling properties in your dough. And on top of that, you can also create ready to eat meals and pies that can last for a longer period of time. Of course, you can also be as creative as possible with it, but the main idea is to bring in something unique and different to the table. With Potato Starch you get to do that and it brings in front some very rewarding results and creative benefits all the time because of that.
Conclusion
Should you use Potato Starch for your meals? That depends on what you want to use it for, but as you can see from the applications list above, the benefits are quite impressive and there are lots of different meal types to check out and try as you see fit. The results are very good, and there are no downsides related to using such a product. All you have to do is to give it a try yourself and see if it works for you. Rest assured that the value and quality are there, if you tackle it adequately the outcome can be very impressive!
