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International Starch Trading
Science Park Aarhus, Denmark
Tapioca Starch Applications 

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Applications by Industry

Textiles (Sizing and Dyeing)

Food Industries and Sweets Manufacturers

Pet Food industry

Fish Feed industry (The industry is growing 40% per annum)

Paper and Paper Cone industries

Ice Cream and Ice Cream Cone Manufacturers

Glue and Adhesive Industries

Aluminium and Cast Iron Foundries (as sand binder in making molds)

Pharmaceutical Industries (Tablet binder and dispersion agent)

Cosmetics Industries

Detergent Soaps

Edible Masala Powder manufacturers

Starch Derivatives industries

Modified Starch Industries

Dry Battery Cell industries (Filler)

Rubber and Foam industries 

Explosive Industry

Plywood

Fermentation industry (enzymes, beer)

Food Applications

Ingredient for food preparation
- Basic home cooking ingredient
- Food manufacturing (noodles, crackers etc.)
- Manufacturing of tapioca pearl ( sago seeds ) for dessert dishes

Tapioca starch is a thickener and stabilizer in fruit pies, soups, puddings, breads, sauces, soy and meat products. It can withstand long cooking times without breaking down.  And products made with tapioca don’t lose their quality when frozen or reheated because tapioca retains its thickening capabilities throughout these processes.  Tapioca becomes clear and gel-like when cooked  and dissolves completely when used as a thickener.

Chocolates, biscuits, cakes, ice creams, vermicelli.  And many more.  These winning goodies contain tapioca starch, which is preferred over other starches due to its better gelling properties and usability as a thickening and bodying agent.

Sauces made with cornstarch turn spongy when they're frozen. If you plan to freeze a dish, use tapioca starch as a thickener.

Starch thickeners don't add much flavor to a dish, although they can impart a starchy flavor  they're undercooked.  If you worried that your thickener will mask delicate flavors in your dish, choose tapioca starch.  It's neutral tasting. 

Tapioca starch thickens quickly, and at a relatively low temperature.  It's a good choice if you want to correct a sauce just before serving it.

Starch thickeners give food a transparent, glistening sheen, which looks nice in a pie filling, but a bit artificial in a gravy or sauce. If you want high gloss, choose tapioca starch.

Tapioca starch creates a perfectly smooth filling and imparts a high gloss for a tasty-looking result. It’s the perfect product to use with high-acid fruits or a lattice-type pie.

Tapioca needs to dissolve before baking.  The fruit, sugar and tapioca must be combined in a bowl, and sit for at least 15 minutes before filling.  If a recipe calls for cornstarch, it can be interchanged one for one with tapioca.

Instant noodles, Noodles, Vermicelli and Sago - all of them are based on tapioca starch which is advantageously to other kinds of starches.

Various Applications

TAPIOCA STARCH
Starches are basically carbohydrates, known as polysaccharides, i.e., multiple molecules of sugar.  For commercial use, they are derived from a variety of cereals like rice, wheat, sorghum, corn and tubers like potato, tapioca, sweet potato, etc.  Internationally popular forms of starch are mostly derived from corn and tapioca due to their easy availability.

Due to a peculiar phenomenon called gelatinisation – an irreversible swelling of starch granules when treated with hot water, starch turns into a thick paste. When cooled and with certain additives, it forms a gel. This gives it high viscosity which forms the basis of its many uses.

What is tapioca starch used for?
Starch has a number of commercial and industrial applications and these invariably find their way into our routine life.  In our clothes.  Our stationery.  Our food. And in a host of other ways. 

Adhesive and Glue

Its relatively high viscosity affords an appreciable binding capacity, which is why starch finds much favour in the adhesive industry.

Tapioca starch becomes sticky when it is mixed with water or certain chemicals. It stays sticky over a very long period of times. However, high quality tapioca starch fits for making industrial glues.

Plywood

Tapioca starch is applied for making glue which is an important raw material of the plywood industry. The strength and the quality of plywood depend largely on the quality of glue.

Conversion industry

Tapioca starch is devoid of major contaminants found in cornstarch and sorghum starch.  It is much better suited for hydrolysis and so is widely used by industries manufacturing downstream products like liquid glucose, sorbitol, maltodextrin, etc. 

Animal feed

Starch is highly economical and therefore extensively used as a filler in the manufacturing of compounded animal feeds

Pharmarcy 

Native starch is used as binders, fillers and disintegrating agents for tablet production

Textiles

Starch is perfect for textile applications. This is why it is widely used in the sizing of yarns and finishing of cotton and polyester fabrics.

The starch has a important role in three stages of production of textiles : mixing, printing and finishing.

Mixing: Starch is applied as sizing agents to stiffen and protect the thread for improved weaving efficiency. It is also used as finished agents to obtain smooth fabrics and color thickeners to obtain sharp and durable printed fabrics. The viscosity has to be reduce either by the starch maker or by in-line during jet cooking with heat stable amylase.
Printing works: Starch is used in printing more even and preventing the contamination while printing. mostly a prgelatinezed modified starch is used.
Finishing stage: The tapioca starch is applied in different proportion to make the cloth glossy and permanent, for example 12% for cotton, 8% for rayon and 18% for synthetic cloth.

Paper

Tapioca starch will be used in three stages of production process; Beater Sizing or Wet-end, Surfacing Sizing or Size-press and Surface Coating

The first stage : Cationic starches are employed to flocculate pulp, increasing de-watering rates on the wet end. Faster machine speeds and better pulp yields result. The starch remains in the finished paper, acting as an internal sizing agent to increase the paper strength.
The second stage : The stage of processing the pulp into sheets. The tapioca starch solution will not only fill up the pores on the sheets while passing through and oven dryer, but also increase the smoothness of the sheet surface, making the sheet smoother to write on and harder for ink to penetrate. Low viscosity starches are applied.
The third stage : The stage of producing special condensed paper for book cover, calender paper and boxes. Thin boiling starches and more sophisticated modified starches are used or native starch is jet-cooked with enzymes.

Confectionery

Native tapioca starch and diverse types of modified starch are used in confectionery for different purposes such as gelling, thickening, texture stabilizing, foam strengthening, crystal growth control, adhesion, film foaming and glazing.

Jellies and gums: Low viscosity tapioca starch are widely used in gelled confectioneries.

The most often used one is acid-thinned starch or enzymatically jet-cooked starch due to its high retrogradation and gel formation characteristics, which are enhanced by the presence of sugars. Powder starches are used as mould release agents when casting.

Beverages and Alcohol

Modified tapioca starch is used as a colloid stabilizer in beverages that include solid constituents. Tapioca starch based sweeteners are preferred to sucrose in beverages for their improved processing characteristics and product enhancing properties. High dextrose equivalent syrups of tapioca based hydrolysate are also excellent source for easily fermentable sugar for brewery applications.

Alcohol. Ethanol is derived from tapioca starch and used as fuel. It accounted for 70% supplied to alcoholic beverage industry and lysol industry. One ton of tapioca starch yields 720 litre or 95% ethanol.

Non-Food Applications of Starches

 
Adhesives
  • hot-melt glues
  • stamps, bookbinding, envelopes
  • labels (regular and waterproof)
  • wood adhesives, laminations
  • automotive, engineering
  • pressure sensitive adhesives
  • corrugation
  • paper sacks
Explosives Industry
  • wide range binding agent
  • match-head binder
Paper Industry
  • internal sizing
  • filler retention
  • surface sizing
  • paper coating (regular and colour)
  • carbonless paper stilt material
  • disposable diapers, feminine products
Construction Industry
  • concrete block binder
  • asbestos, clay/limestone binder
  • fire-resistant wallboard
  • plywood/chipboard adhesive
  • gypsum board binder
  • paint filler
Metals Industry
  • foundry core binder
  • sintered metal additive
  • sand casting binder
Textiles Industry
  • warp sizing
  • fabric finishing
  • printing
Cosmetic and Pharmaceutical Industry
  • dusting powder
  • make-up
  • soap filler/extender
  • face creams
  • pill coating, dusting agent
  • tablet binder/dispersing agent
Mining Industry
  • ore flotation
  • ore sedimentation
  • oil well drilling muds
Miscellaneous
  • biodegradable plastic film
  • dry cell batteries
  • printed circuit boards
  • leather finishing


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International Starch Trading A/S, Science Park Aarhus, Denmark.

Keywords: starch application paper coating size binder stabilizer stabiliser