Arrowroot
ARROWROOT. A large proportion of the edible starches obtained from the rhizomes or root-stocks of various plants are known in commerce under the name of arrowroot. Properly the name should be restricted to the starch yielded by two or three species of Maranta (nat. ord. Marantaceae), the chief of which is M. arundinacea; and when genuine or West Indian arrowroot is spoken of, it is understood that this is the variety meant. Maranta arundinacea is probably a native of Guiana and western Brazil, but it has long been cultivated in the West Indian Islands, and has now spread to most tropical countries. The plant is a herbaceous perennial with a creeping root-stock which gives off fleshy cylindrical branches or tubers, covered with pale brown or white scales and afterwards ringed with their scars. It is at the period when these tubers are gorged with starch, immediately before the season of rest, that it is ripe for use. In addition to about 25% of starch, the tubers contain a proportion of woody tissue, vegetable albumen and various salts. The arrowroot may be separated on a small scale in the same manner as potato-starch is frequently prepared, that is, by peeling the root and grating it in water, when the starch falls to the bottom. The liquor is then drained off, and the starch purified by repeated washings till it is ready for drying. On a large scale the manufacture of arrowroot is conducted with specially arranged machinery. The rhizomes when dug up are washed free of earthy impurities and afterwards skinned. Subsequently, according to Pereira's Materia Medica, "the carefully skinned tubers are washed, then ground in a mill, and the pulp washed in tinned-copper cylindrical washing-machines. The fecula (dim. of Lat. faex, dregs, or sediment) is subsequently dried in drying-houses. In order to obtain the fecula free from impurity, pure water must be used, and great care and attention paid in every step of the process. The skinning or peeling of the tubers must be performed with great nicety, as the cuticle contains a resinous matter which imparts colour and a disagreeable flavour to the starch. German-silver palettes are used for skinning the deposited fecula, and shovels of the same metal for packing the dried fecula. The drying is effected in pans, covered with white gauze to exclude dust and insects."
Arrowroot is distinguished by the granules agglomerating into small balls, by slightly crepitating when rubbed between the fingers, and by yielding with boiling water a fine, transparent, inodorous and pleasant-tasting jelly. In microscopic structure the granules present an ovoid form, marked with concentric lines very similar to potato-starch, but readily distinguished by having a "hilum" marking at the thick extremity of the granule, while in potato-starch the same appearance occurs at the thin end (compare figs. 3 and 4 below). In addition to the West Indian supplies, arrowroot is found in the commerce of Brazil, the East Indies, Australia, Cape Colony and Natal.
The name "arrowroot" is derived from the use by the Mexican Indians of the juice of the fresh root as an application to wounds produced by poisoned arrows. Sir Hans Sloane refers to it in his Catalogue of Jamaica Plants (1696), and it is said to have been introduced into England by William Houston about 1732. It is grown as a stove-plant in botanic gardens. The slender, much-branched stem is 5 or 6 ft. high, and bears numerous leaves with long, narrow sheaths and large spreading ovate blades, and a few short-stalked white flowers.
Tous-les-mois, or Tulema arrowroot, also from the West Indies, is obtained from several species of Canna, a genus allied to Maranta, and cultivated in the same manner. The granules of tous-les-mois are readily distinguishable by their very large size (fig. 5). East Indian arrowroot is obtained from the root-stocks of several species of the genus Curcuma (nat. ord. Zingiberaceae), chiefly C. angustifolia, a native of central India. Brazilian arrowroot is the starch of the cassava plant, a species of Manihot (fig. 6), which when agglutinated on hot plates forms the tapioca of commerce. The cassava is cultivated in the East Indian Archipelago as well as in South America. Tocca, or Otaheite arrowroot, is the produce of Tacca pinnatifida, the pia plant of the South Sea Islands. Portland arrowroot was formerly prepared on the Isle of Portland from the tubers of the common cuckoo-pint, Arum maculatum. Various other species of arum yield valuable food-starches in hot countries. Under the name of British arrowroot the farina of potatoes is sometimes sold, and the French excel in the preparation of imitations of the more costly starches from this source. The chief use, however, of potato-farina as an edible starch is for adulterating other and more costly preparations. This falsification can readily be detected by microscopic examination, and the accompanying drawings exhibit the appearance under the microscope of the principal starches we have described. Although these starches agree in chemical composition, their value as articles of diet varies considerably, owing to different degrees of digestibility and pleasantness of taste. Arrowroot contains about 82% of starch, and about 1% of proteid and mineral matter. Farina, or British arrowroot, at about one-twelfth the price, is just as useful and pleasant a food.
Note - this article incorporates content from Encyclopaedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, (1910-1911)
