Achieving omnipresence is almost impossible – it’s mythical. Yet, one ingredient has managed it : Maize Starch powder. The magical enhancer is ubiquitous in everything we encounter in our daily lives. Seriously! What can’t maize starch do? Not only is the ingredient used to make your veggies and tofu crispy, to make your cakes soft and spongy, it is a crucial ingredient in the pharmaceutical industry and has infinite uses in the industrial sector. Talk about batting for all the teams! There is hardly any substitute for Maize starch and you will adore this simple yet powerful ingredient as much as we do at Bluecraft Agro.
Let’s start by giving a short introduction of Maize starch – Commonly known as Cornstarch, it is a very fine white powder that is obtained by extracting it from the endosperm (a tissue within the seed of the plant) of the corn kernel. Maize Starch is chalky in appearance and is so smooth that it will make a squeaky sound when rubbed between your fingers. We shall now explore the versatile uses of Maize Starch across all sectors, ranging from food, pharmaceutical and industries..
FOOD sector : Used as a Thickening agent in curries and soups, a Binding agent for batters and coatings that also aids in retaining moisture in baked products, a Gluten-free alternative for people with Celiac disease and an Anti-caking agent that prevents clumping by absorbing moisture and maintaining a free flowing consistency.
Pharmaceutical sector: This miracle ingredient is used as both a binder to keep the active pharmaceutical ingredients together and as a disintegrant promoting the rapid breakdown once the tablet is ingested. It is also used as a diluent for precise dosing of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) and uniform distribution of the dosage form. When used as a coating agent for tablets and capsules, it can provide a protective barrier, improve appearance, mask taste or odour and control the release of the active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) as desired.
There is an extended usage of Maize starch in the beauty industry as well! It plays a pivotal role due to its absorbent properties in powders and mattifying products as well as dry- shampoos. It acts as a thickening agent in creams and lotions and liquid foundations. It acts as a binder for pressed powders, blushes and eye shadows.
We now look at a few of the lesser known uses of Maize starch that make a huge difference in various industries.
Textile Industry – Providing stiffness and smoothness to the fabric during the weaving process. It also helps add finer touches to the finished product for improved look, feel and performance by giving it a clean, polished appearance. Maize starch also helps uniform distribution of dyes and colours into the fabric giving the design a clean and colourful look.
Paper industry– With the advance in starch technology, paper makers get a better sheet of paper at a much lower cost than before. Starch finds use as a wet-end additive to improve strength, stiffness and the rattle factor of the paper. It is also used for surface sizing as it imparts smoothness, fuzz control and resistance to penetration by oil and printing ink. In paper coating, Starch enhances printability and appearance of the base paper. As an aid to economical and quality paper making, Starch products are proving to be invaluable.
Packaging Industry– Due to its adhesive property, Maize starch finds a large market in conversion of paper into paper boxes, cartons, tubes and many other forms of packaging material. Maize Starch is also used in making disposable bags and containers that are durable and functional yet compostable, supporting waste reduction efforts.
Drilling starch– Maize Starch is used extensively in the drilling industry as well with it having more than several advantages. It helps reduce fluid loss. It also aids in stabilising rheology and reduces the filter cake permeability. It also helps in lubricating the drilling process that pushes the broken rocks out of the way to simplify the operation.
Bioplastics – Approximately 50% of the bioplastics used commercially are prepared from maize starch. The production of starch-based bioplastics is simple, and they are widely used for packaging applications. The development of most bioplastics is assumed to reduce fossil fuel usage, plastic waste, as well as carbon dioxide emissions.
There are still hundreds of uses of this seemingly straightforward ingredient in several other industries that are being discovered on a daily basis.
Perhaps the greatest takeaway is that Maize starch, derived from renewable corn sources, has biodegradable properties that reduce environmental impact as compared to petroleum based plastics. It is compostable under appropriate conditions, breaking down into harmless components like water and carbon dioxide without leaving toxic residues.
Leading Suppliers of Maize Starch
We, at Bluecraft Agro, are extremely proud and trusted suppliers of the multifaceted Maize Starch powder across the world. We believe in delivering quality with sustainability and hence remain the preferred supplier for Maize starch for most industries. Get in touch with our team today and see your business quadruple by using Bluecraft Agro’s premium quality Maize Starch. As a leading starch manufacturer in India, we are committed to excellence in every product we deliver.