Starch

Starch is a kitchen classic, one of the most commonly used types of thickener. It serves as stored energy in the form of carbohydrates in plants, especially in their seeds and edible roots—for example, rice, wheat, corn, and potatoes. On a global scale, starch makes up around 50 percent of the calories consumed by humans. It consists of two types of polysaccharides, amylose and amylopectin, which are tightly and neatly packed together in small starch granules in the plant tissue. In different plants, these granules vary in size and shape. Those in rice are typically small (about 5 micrometers), those in wheat are somewhat bigger (20 micrometers), and those in potatoes are much larger (30–50 micrometers).