Tapioca starch is a starch extracted from cassava roots, also known as tapioca flour. Tapioca starch is a white powder, odorless and easily soluble in water. It is a starchy product with high purity, low protein, low fat and low ash. Tapioca starch is widely used in regions such as Asia, Africa, and South America, and is a very important food material.
Tapioca starch has many uses, here are some common applications:
1. Food processing: Tapioca starch is an important ingredient in many foods, such as bread, biscuits, cakes, noodles, salad dressings, etc. It can be used as a stabilizer, thickener, coagulant and emulsifier to improve the taste and quality of food.
2. Textile processing: Tapioca starch is a commonly used textile processing aid, which can be used for fabric size treatment, printing and dyeing size, and strengthening adhesives.
3. Pharmaceutical industry: Tapioca starch can be used in the manufacture of medicines such as tablets, capsules and injections. It acts as a filler, stabilizer, emulsifier, humectant and solvent.
4. Cosmetics: Tapioca starch can be used in the manufacture of cosmetics, such as face cream, shampoo, toothpaste and cosmetics. It can be used as humectant, oil absorbing agent, stabilizer and rheological agent etc.
5. Candy making: Tapioca starch can be used in candy making, which can increase the sweetness of candy, improve the taste, and prevent the candy from sticking together.
6. Paper processing: Tapioca starch can be used in paper processing, which can enhance the hardness and gloss of paper, and can also improve the printing performance of paper.
7. Manufacturing of bioplastics: Tapioca starch can be used in the manufacture of bioplastics, which can replace traditional petroleum-based plastics and reduce environmental pollution and resource consumption.
8. Industrial production: Tapioca starch can be used in industrial production, such as oil exploration, textile processing, steel production and paper making.
It should be noted that although tapioca starch is widely used in many applications, it also has some limitations. For example, because cassava starch contains a large amount of substances such as amylase inhibitors and dietary fiber, excessive consumption may have a certain impact on human health. In addition, in some industrial applications, tapioca starch may also have some safety risks, which need to be strictly controlled.