Potato starch is one of the most popular products of world cuisine and although it has neither taste nor smell, it gives food and drinks a lot of specific qualities and has many useful properties, for which it is highly appreciated in dietetics. And even starch has completely unique, unique features.
The main thing you need to know about potato starch, its benefits and composition
Starch is one of the main elements of the composition of potato tubers obtained from them during rather complex technological processes, and the mechanical part of processing potatoes into it is currently regulated by GOSTs.
The crumbly light starch powder is used in the manufacture of many foods and drinks, it is an excellent thickener for sauces and creams, it is added to baby food, sausages and minced meat on the same cutlets - to better keep their shape, and in biscuits - for fluffy fluffiness of the dough. Pasta and breading are prepared with starch (unusually crispy, not absorbing a lot of fat). Juicy fillings are stabilized for them (so as not to spread out of the pie).
Finally, with its help, unscrupulous manufacturers fake products, for example, achieving the desired consistency of "village" sour cream.
In popularity in the culinary field, potato starch is not inferior to rice and corn.
The energy value of starch is approximately 313 kcal per 100 g.
And starch does not contain a drop of fat.
Of the vitamins in it, there is only PP (for the health of the nervous system and protein metabolism).
The mineral set is slightly more diverse:
• potassium - heart health;
• calcium - the main building material for bones and teeth;
• sodium - normalization of acid-base balance and vasodilating effect;
• phosphorus - cell renewal and muscle activity.
But almost the most interesting thing is the particularity of the potato starch itself, which exists in two types - simple and resistant (and both of them belong to complex carbohydrates):
• ordinary is easily absorbed, converted into glucose and energizes the body;
• resistant starch, resistant to a large part of enzymatic processes, passes through the digestive tract almost unchanged up to the colon, where during complex reactions it becomes a nutrient medium for beneficial microflora and, simultaneously forming secondary products of digestion, blocks the absorption of toxins into the blood and improves the digestibility of mineral substances from any food.
Still resistant starch is known for normalizing blood sugar levels and increasing the body's sensitivity to insulin, and for a particularly long time the first effect persists if you use something cool with starch (for example, pudding) for breakfast - then sugar will be reduced until after noon.
The belonging of all starch to one or another type is unstable - in hot starch-containing food (mashed potatoes for garnish) simple starch prevails, in chilled or room temperature (potato salad) it is resistant.
Even bananas are unstable - as they ripen, resistant starch changes to easily digestible.
The most vivid and stable benefit of any potato starch is manifested for the digestive tract:
• the enveloping property makes starch useful for gastritis and ulcers - the walls of the stomach are protected from irritating substances from food and from the action of gastric juice (which acidity, by the way, it normalizes);
• anti-inflammatory, regenerative and hemostatic properties are also important for the above diseases, plus they serve to prevent many serious problems with the intestines.
How else is the benefits of potato starch
Drinks on potato starch are multifaceted:
• Greatly and permanently quench thirst and even dull hunger;
• establish the withdrawal of excess fluid from the body;
• even drunk in large quantities, do not provoke the occurrence of edema.
Starch has the property of activating the synthesis of vitamin B2 (protects the eyes from the sun, rejuvenates the skin, heals the liver).
Regular use of starch prevents sclerotic changes, as it lowers the level and organizes the transportation of "bad" cholesterol from the body.
How to choose and eat potato starch with benefit
It is easy to determine high-quality starch - it is crumbly, without lumps, if you take to rub its pinch between your fingers - you hear a slight creak.
Theoretically, its shelf life can reach 5 years without losing most of its qualities.
And always on the product packaging you can find the name of the variety of potato starch, there are three of them in the food industry and cooking:
• “Extra” and “Higher” varieties are characterized by a snow-white color and an almost complete absence of smell. They are also evaluated by their granularity, that is, by the maximum permissible by 1 dm2 amount of starch grains knocking out of the size of the general, translucent-air texture of the product. In these varieties, it is up to 60 and 280, respectively.
• the grade "third" may have a grayish tint, a slightly sour smell and a grain size of up to 700.
Naturally, for a delicious home cooking, it is recommended to choose the first two varieties.
And it is very important to say about modified starch, which is used in the food industry and cooking along with the fact that it is processed minimally.
On the one hand, potatoes are among the most popular crops that can be labeled “GMOs”. It is actively grown on the planet and variously eaten.
But if it is said on the packaging of starch that it is modified, then this has nothing to do with the experiments of scientists with the genetic codes of plants.
Modified, in this case, means that starch using certain technologies has been given some properties. For example, they made it more friable and odorless (for baking powder) or well swelling (for ketchup).
In food labeling, a variety of potato starch is hidden under names like E1400 and E1404.
All significant starch-containing foods (including potatoes) are recommended to be consumed in the morning, giving the body time and energy to fully assimilate it.
The recommended daily intake of potato starch is 50 g, which can be measured in 1 tablespoon and 2 teaspoons of the product.
Everything that contains potato starch needs to be eaten, chewing thoroughly, since the processes of its breakdown begin already in the human mouth.
For the full assimilation of starch, the body should not lack vitamin B, but at the same time, almost any combination with other products makes starch assimilation difficult. Except for fruits and vegetables.
That is, the same baked potato, it is more useful to eat with a salad of cucumbers with tomatoes, and not with a juicy schnitzel. A jelly is better not to drink butter bun.
What is the harm of potato starch?
Excessive short-term use of starch will not do much harm, but it will hit the gastrointestinal tract, causing stomach discomfort, increased gas and constipation.
Also, in order to avoid harm to the potato starch for the figure, its quantity to be eaten should be monitored with a tendency to gain weight.
Despite the fact that modified varieties of starch do not pose a threat to GMOs, they are not worth consuming much - they can slow down digestion, and (although this is not 100% proven) over time make the walls of the vessels thinner and more fragile.
That is, theoretically, many store products are potentially harmful, but it can be a consolation that the content of modified starch in them is usually minimal.
And even using it in your home kitchen should not turn out to be something bad, in the end, the last negative properties for the cardiovascular system are still doubtful.
Also, according to some studies, there is harm from potato starch, which has undergone intense heating (for example, if it is breaded in something fried or just when it is fried potato), after such processing, it can violate the protection of cells from free radicals (molecules without one electron, which they take away from full molecules), which pushes the body to premature aging and increases the risks of cancer.
