Europe, starch production

Potato tuber protein complement is of interest to the potato starch industry, because high quantities of proteins can be purified from the potato juice by-product. Thus a number of studies on potato tuber proteins have been performed on cultivars grown for industrial starch production, such as Elkana in The Netherlands and Kuras in Northern Europe. A few studies have been performed on, e g., cvs Desiree and Bintje, which are commonly used for human consumption in Europe. The soluble proteins of potato tuber have been classified broadly into three groups patatins, protease inhibitors, and other proteins (Pots et al., 1999). Patatins and protease inhibitors are well characterized, whereas quite limited information has been available about the other major proteins. 

Outside of the use of cellulose for papermaking, starch is the most widely used plant-derived carbohydrate for non-food uses. Around 60 million tonnes of raw starch are produced per year for food and non-food uses. The US accounts for most of the world s production, utilising starch from maize, which accounts for over 80% of world production. The starch market in the US is driven by the large isoglucose sweetener market and now increasingly by the growing bioethanol market, which uses maize as a fermentation feedstock. Europe derives most of its starch from wheat and potatoes, which account for 8% and 5% of world starch production, respectively. The other main source of starch is cassava (tapioca), produced in South East Asia. Small amounts of oat, barley and rice are also exploited for starch production. Many edible beans are also rich in starches, but are not commonly exploited for non-food uses. 

Starch production in Europe is currently constrained by a starch quota system that offers financial incentives to first processors, designed to prevent overproduction in the food sector. Opening up of new industrial market outlets would enable a reassessment of current quota limits imposed on member states, and enable wider participation in starch production across the European Union. 

While the major aim in industrial wheat starch production is to produce a refined grade of A-starch, the production of a purified B-starch may also have commercial significance because of its unique uses, as described later in this chapter. In Europe, a new process was developed to separate B-starch into two fractions a high-purity, small granular starch and a feed fraction.53 The process involves enzyme treatment followed by high-pressure treatment and purification on fine screens, separators and decanters. Large and small wheat starch granules are marketed in Japan.85... 

Wheat starch (see Chapter 10) is a by-product of vital gluten manufacture, but is also isolated from wheat flour in its own right. It is a major starch in Australia and New Zealand in Europe, it represents 20% of the total starch production.12 Residual protein in the starch gives it a flour-like odor, flavor and appearance. Wheat starch... 

Starches as a group, and the three principal volume starches, individually, are by far the most important polysacolloids on both a weight and a money basis. They are also the cheapest polysaccharides in most areas of the world, the major exception being the Orient, where starch crops are more valuable as food and so are replaced, in other usages, by less easily assimilated polysacolloids. Com (maize) is the most important starch crop in this country (accounting for over 90 % of the total production of starch), followed by potatoes and wheat whereas, in Europe, the production of potato and wheat starch far exceeds that of corn. 

The main industrial starch productions are based primarily on four resources maize (76%), cassava (12%), wheat (7%) and potatoes (4%). Other forms of starch represent less than 1%. The main production zones are North America (33%), China (33%), Europe (18%), South Asia (11%) and South America (5%). The following set North America, China and Europe represent in total 85% of worldwide starch production. However, those three only correspond to around one-third of the world s population. 

Figure 9.2.1 Starch products consumption by sector. Europe 2006.

Figure 9.2.6 Starch products conumption in the food sector. Europe 2006.

Worldwide, ethanol is mostly produced by fermentation, accoimt-ing for up to 90% of ethanol produced globally. In Brazil, most bioethanol is produced from sugarcane or molasses and in the United States from com. However, other starch materials such as wheat, barley and rye are also suitable as raw material. The starch-containing grains have to be converted into sugar. Thus, in Europe, starch grains, e.g., wheat and sugar beet are the major source of bioethanol production (15). 

Today, starch is inexpensive and is available annually from com and other crops, and is produced in excess of current market needs in the United States and Europe (1). Starch is totally biodegradable in a wide variety of environments and could permit the development of totally degradable products for specific market demands. Degradation or incineration of starch products would recycle atmospheric CO2 trapped by starch-producing plants and would not increase potential global warming (2) (see also Environmentally Degradable Plastics). 

US corn production in 2003 passed the level of 10 billion bushels (560 billion kg) and from 1970 to 2000 the bnshels per acre increased from 80 to 140 (4480 to 7840 kg) (National Agricultural Statistics Service, USD A). In Europe (15 member states) corn starch production in 2001 was 8.4 million tons. 

The other alternative is to remove water from ethanol obtained by fermentation of fermentable sugar. Fermentation is a well-known technology that has been used for a long time. The interest to replace fossil fuel (gasoline) in cars with renewable fuel has increased the interest in bioethanol tremendously. The main sources are sugar from sugar cane (Brazil) or starch from corn (USA) or wheat (Europe). The production has increased steeply in the last 10-15 years [17] (see Figure 6.2). 

Starch, an inexpensive agricultural resource, is industrially produced with a volume of almost 7 million ton/year in Europe. Nearly 50% of the starch produced is already used for non-food applications and about 30% of the starch production is industrially precipitated from aqueous solutions because of its very good film-forming properties (Ldrcks, 1998). 

Since the 1940 s, c. is the classical example for practical applications of the ->hybrid breeding technique that makes use of the different gene pools of c. by combining the best fitted individuals to create more vigorous, cold-tolerant and high-yielding varieties, which made c, the no. 1 crop in the US and also the most important feed and starch crop in northern Europe. For food applications, it was necessary to raise the protein content to over 20% and to improve the amount of the essential - amino acids lysine and tryptophane. C. is used for 75% of the world s starch production. For food as well as for technical applications, - amylo-maize starch varieties (high-amylose c.) were bred. 

The annual world production of potato starch (1999) amounts to 3.15x10 mt of the world starch production of 45 x 10. mt The seasonal character and the geographical location in Europe restrict the prospects of growth. Nevertheless, the unique - starch properties and composition, as well as better environmental performance of manufacture, are responsible for the growth to 1.8 x 10 mt in 1999 in the EU ( from 9 x 10 mt potatoes)... 

The worldwide processing of 18 x 10 mt starch to 16-17 X 10 mt of starch sweeteners (entire starch production a 45 x 10 mt) is highly concentrated in the USA, Japan and South-East Asia, EU and other Europe. 

The entire world production of starch and starch products is in steady increase. It is estimated to be about 45 X 10 mt/a. (not including gasohol), with over the half produced in North America, followed by Asia and the Europe. - Com starch accounts for about 74% (33 x 10 mt) of the production, followed by 10% (4.5 X 10 mt) maniok (tapioka, cassava), 8% (3.6 X 10 mt) of - wheat and 7%... 

Liquid sucrose and Hquid invert, generally made by redissolving white sugar and inverting with invertase enzyme, are refinery products in Europe and outside the United States. In the United States they have been almost completely replaced by cheaper com symps made by enzymatic hydrolysis of starch and isomerization of glucose. 

While it is possible to use genetic engineering techniques to manipulate the sort of starch produced, at the time of writing the use of such starch in foods is illegal in Europe. The starch from genetically modified plants can, however, be used in industrial products such as adhesives. 

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