Energy of Plants

Energy of Plants

THE NATURAL FRIEND

Starch is the glucide reserve of plants. It is found in maize, wheat and potato from which it is extracted, as well as in many other plants: rice, barley, vegetables, manioc, sweet potato.

Starch is extracted from more than 50 plants throughout the world. The formation of starch in plants is through the process of photosynthesis. This physiological mechanism makes it possible for the plants to produce and store the glucose (elementary sugar) which is necessary for their growth and reproduction.

Initially, the plant assimilates the carbon of the atmosphere and transforms it into glucose, the basic molecule. This is then used for the synthesis of the starch polymers associated with pure glucose.

Like the image of a "pearl necklace", each plant organises and structures its macromolecules of glucose in a different way, the number of glucose units which can vary from 100 to 20,000 in each polymer. In plants, starch appears as small granules, insoluble in cold water, the size (between 3 and 100 microns) and form vary according to the origin.

EXTRACTION OF STARCH

The starch industry consists of separating the components of the plant: starch, protein, cellulose envelope, soluble fractions and in the case of maize, the germ from which oil will be extracted. This first phase utilises a series of simple stages of physical separation of the components: crushing, sifting, centrifuging, etc... However the methods of manufacture are specific to each plant and the industrial tools are normally dedicated to a raw material (maize, wheat or potato in Europe). In the second stage, the starch which has been extracted in its purest form, will be used as it is after drying (one then speaks about “native starch”) or it will be further processed, undergoing various transformations aiming either at modifying its performance ("modified starch") or to obtain glucose syrups. These in their turn can also create multiple finished products... But this is another story!

At the end of the process the starch and derived products are delivered to customer industries in the form of powder (with an appearance similar to that of flour) or of syrups.