Starch modification and uses of potato starch

August 09, 2021

Waxy starch (amylopectine only) replaces synthetic polymers to ease the weaving of cotton threads. The drilling industry for oil exploration uses potato starch because it alters the viscosity of the drilling fluid, thereby lubricating the drill head. It also keeps the ground rock in suspension and improves its transfer away from the drill head. Potato starch and fibers are fermented with lactic acid bacteria to produce lactic acid (CH₃CH(OH)CO₂H), which, through polymerization, forms polylactic acid (PLA), a transparent petrochemical-based polyethylene. This bioplastic, like glucose- and starch-based bioplastics, is biodegradable. When reinforced with bio-based fiber such as hemp of flax, it produces material for industrial use such as for the automobile industry.

Application of potato starch in color photography

A now obsolete use of a very limited negligible amount of potato starch was its application in color photography developed by Auguste and Louis Lumière around the turn of the last century: the Lumière Autochrome. Potato starch grains were divided into smaller and larger grains, the latter are heavier, precipitate faster in water and were discarded. The small starch grains were colored with the complementary colors orange, green and violet with synthetic colorants. A random mixture of the grains was sprayed and one layer thick was fixed on a sticky varnished glass plate, over half a million grains per square cm. The small voids between the grains were filled with carbon powder. The result was rolled flat, fixed with varnish and covered with a light sensitive emulsion that consisted of a gel containing silver bromide. When making a photograph, the glass plates were placed in the camera with the starch grains towards the lens. The grains filtered the light and cast a negative image. On reversing the plate and exposing it to light again, a positive image appears in true colors. The process was one of the common methods of color photography in the early 20^th century, but it was replaced by red-green-blue techniques of Agfa and Kodak in the mid-1930s.

Photo: Enlargement of colored potato starch grains for Lumière autochrome color photography (wiki).

You may also be interested in:

Starch processing and the role of starch potatoes in animal feed

Potato largely is eaten by man, but in the past it was widely used as animal feed, especially after cooking, for example by pigs, in Europe. Like humans, pigs can only unlock the starch and digests it after cooking. Ruminants, however, can digest raw potatoes.

An introduction to potato starch production

Dedicated and specialized potato starch factories are located in China, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan and the Netherlands. In the USA, some potato starch is also produced by potato chips and crisps factories that bring waste, side streams rather, to value.

Photosynthesis and starch formation in potatoes

In the dark, no photosynthesis takes place. To the contrary, a reverse process occurs— respiration—whereby sugars are respired producing a molecule called ATP (adenosine triphosphate). ATP is formed from a phosphate ion (P) with adenosine diphosphate (ADP) thanks to solar energy or energy released by respiring sugars. ATP is the molecule that is used to…

Textured potato protein may revolutionize plant-based products

Danish starch cooperative KMC has created textured potato protein that can be used as an ingredient in plant-based meat.