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Demand for starch and its derivatives in traditional Indian foods

Thursday, 05 March, 2015, 08 : 00 AM [IST]

Ashok Kumar

Starch, a polysaccharide made of glucose units is a significant food ingredient with versatile application in different food and non-food industries.

Starch can be derived from cereal/grains such as corn, wheat, rice, sorghum, barley or from tubers such as tapioca, potato and arrow root. Starch content in these raw materials varies between 30% and 100%.

In India, starch is commercially produced from maize, tapioca and potato. Globally total starch and derivatives market is expected to grow to US$77.4 billion by 2018. Whereas, the total Indian starch and derivatives market in 2013 is around US$1.3 billion and is expected to grow to US$2.6 billion by 2018.

Native starch and modified starch
Native starch is too weak and does not possess the functional properties required for use in food industry, so it is treated physically, chemically or with enzymes to achieve the required functional properties. Modified starches are used to enhance viscosity, texture, and stability among many desired and specific functional properties. According to the erstwhile Prevention of Food Adulteration Act (PFA), the maximum permissible limit of modified starches in ready-to-eat products is 0.5%, which effectively meant modified starches even at this low concentration, had significance in the end product.

Main processed food products making use of starch in India

Maize flour/baking powder/custard powder
Soups and sauces
Instant noodles
Ready-to-eat mixes/instant gravies
Traditional Indian foods
Snacks

With rising share of packed/processed traditional Indian foods within the total food consumption of the general populations, the demand for starch from this sector is rising. In this sector, it is used as thickener in sauces and soups, body former/texturiser in namkeens and savoury snacks, gel former in halwa and pudding type snacks and also as bodying agent in bakeries.

Bakery is one of the largest processed food industries in India. Bread and biscuits are the two major bakery segments and which together account for more than 80% of total bakery products. Bread making uses starch for a significant role to improve texture and quality of dough in bread. Therefore, modified starches, which were developed to decrease undesirable properties of native starches, also affect the properties of dough and quality of bread.

The modified starches could be used to substitute up to 20% for wheat flour without deterioration of bread quality. However, vital gluten is also needed to blend with the substituted modified starches to improve loaf volume of bread. Traditional baked goods in India are generally unleavened and flat. These include variants of the chapatis/rotis in different parts of the country. There is a move towards industrialisation of this sector due to high demand from the HORECA (hotel, restaurant and catering) sector for readymade solutions. This not includes the chains serving traditional roti-subzi but also Westernised concepts like wraps and frankies. For people who are allergic to gluten, the traditional foods like chapatis, rotis, and parathas can be prepared using native starch (corn/potato/tapioca) with main flour (can be rice/ sorghum/ amaranth and so on). Starch helps to overcome the gluten issue and to achieve the required texture.

Features & functionalities
In snacks, native starches offer various features and functionalities depending on the base material. For example, high-amylose starch provides expansion and texture control, uniform surface characteristics, structural stability and increased crunchiness. Native waxy improves expansion potential and perhaps some improved extrusion throughput based on the overall formulation.

Starch can be used on breaded fried fish where it binds the coating to the fish piece and in processed meats where starch binds the juices. Modified waxy maize, potato or tapioca starch added at the chopping stage swells during heating and binds in poultry rolls as well as other cooked meat. The final texture will be firm and retained for prolonged periods.

Reasons for use
Starches can be used in traditional Indian confectionery for the following reasons: Gelling, thickening, textural stabilisation, adhesion, and moulding or shaping. Due to these functionalities it has potential for application in halwas and phirnees. These products are currently not produced on industrial scale, with manufacture being restricted to highly localised shops/chains. Informal use of starch for these products is known to Giract.

Dry-mix foods include both cook-up and instant products. Both are typically prepared and used immediately. For cook-up products, modified starches may be required to remain stable as well as provide the required texture. Instant mixes for gulab jamuns, savoury rice mixes and various Indian snacks are available in the market, which incorporate starch for both bulk and flow, as well as for technical functionality.

Therefore, Indianised foods, which are the traditional foods prepared in the country including sweets (halwa), snacks (murukku, appalam) and ready-to-eat and ready-to-fry extruded items uses native and modified potato starch, native tapioca starch and native corn starch as thickening and binding agents. However, the dosage of native starch used is higher than modified starch.

In 2013, of the total starch consumed in food industry, native starch met with 80% of the demand and remaining 20% demand is met by modified starch. Although the dosage of modified starch used in food is lower, the demand for modified starch in the food sector is nevertheless growing due to the rapid pace of introduction of new processed food products as a result of changing lifestyles. Thus the demand for starch is forecast to grow at between 10 and 12% p.a.

The need for innovation
Innovation is always regarded as key determinant for growth and prosperity in economy and politics. With fast changing framework of the food industry and tastes of consumers, it is necessary for companies to adopt/ develop new technologies to meet their expectations.

Dumplings, a traditional food in China faced two problems while developing a frozen supply chain, such as the dumpling wrappers crack, and poor injection filling. To avoid this AVEBE and Ingredion jointly developed Eliane Gel 100, a new starch product that has a unique property of thermo-reversibility and thus offered a perfect solution for juicy fillings in frozen dumplings.

Similarly several traditional Indian foods can be industrialised with innovations. Following are few examples - New combinations of ingredients to create new flavour; Pre-cooked food, ready-to-eat-dishes; Diversification of shapes and/or texture; and Bought in vending machines.

The Indian food industry has to work towards these innovations with intensive R&D.

(The author is post-graduate in food technology with manufacturing and consulting experience. He currently tracks Indian and Asian markets for key food and beverage ingredients with a focus on starch and derivatives. He can be reached at ashok@giract.com )