Starch markets

FAO (2006b). "Starch Market Adds Value to Cassava. Spotlight.". Food and agriculture organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy. October. 

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. 

Fuglie, K.O. and Oates, C.G. 1990. Starch markets in Asia. http //www.eseap.cipotato.org/MF-ESEAP/Fl-Library/StarchMarketsAsia-Keith.pdf... 

Frost Sullivan, Strategic Analysis of the European Food Starch Markets, 2007. 

Fine grinding and air classification make possible the production of some cake flour from hard wheat and some bread flour or high-protein fractions from soft wheat. AppHcation of the process theoretically frees the miller from dependence on different wheats, either hard or soft, that change each crop year. The problem is how to market the larger volume of low protein or starch fractions at prices adequate to justify the installation and operation of the special equipment (46). 

Water-Soluble Films. Water-soluble films can be produced from such polymers as poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVOH), methylceUulose, poly(ethylene oxide), or starch (qv) (see Cellulose ethers Polyethers Vinyl polymers). Water-soluble films are used for packaging and dispensing portions of detergents, bleaches, and dyes. A principal market is disposable laundry bags for hospital use. Disposal packaging for herbicides and insecticides is an emerging use. 

Gums fall into a category of specialty chemicals called thickeners and stabilizers. This market is dominated by starch, starch derivatives, and ceUulosics (Table 2). Although the gums only represent approximately 5% of the sales by weight, they represent approximately 25% in dollars. 

Aerosol dry shampoos fill an important market for those unable to tolerate wet hair, such as the sick and infirm. These products are based on oil absorbing powders which include talc, starch, and/or clay. They can be sprayed onto hair and then bmshed off after absorbing soils from the hair. 

Cationic Hydroxyethylcelluloses. These materials are manufactured by Union Carbide Corp. and National Starch and Chemical Corp., marketed under the trade names Polymer JR and Celquat, respectively (47,48). The cationic substituent on Polymer JR is presumably 2-hydroxypropyltrimethylammonium chloride (72). Celquat is presumably the reaction product of HEC with /V,/V-dia11y1-/V,/V-dimethy1ammonium chloride (73). Their primary appHcation is in shampoos and hair conditioners wherein the cationic moiety imparts substantivity to hair. Some typical properties of Celquat resins are given in Table 7. 

Industrial uses make up most of the market for cyanamide. Calcium cyanamide is used directly for steel nitridation (34) and to some extent for desulfurization (36) (see Steel). Cyanamide is used to produce cationic starch (36) and calcium cyanide. Cyanamide is, of course, the raw material for dicyandiamide and melamine. New uses include intermediates for pesticides, detergents (37), medicines such as antihistamines, hypertension, sedatives, contraceptives, etc (38), the photography industry (39), as an additive for fuels and lubricants, as a paper preservative, and as a cement additive. 

Worldwide consumption of industrial enzymes amounted to approximately 720 million in 1990 about one-third was accounted for by the U.S. market. Estimation of worldwide consumption is difficult because official production figures are scarce. A relatively large portion of the production of starch-processing enzymes is for internal consumption. Furthermore, the currency used for the estimation also influences the result considerably. 

Industrial ethyl alcohol can be produced synthetically from ethylene [74-85-17, as a by-product of certain industrial operations, or by the fermentation of sugar, starch, or cellulose. The synthetic route suppHes most of the industrial market in the United States. The first synthesis of ethanol from ethylene occurred in 1828 in Michael Faraday s lab in Cambridge (40). 

Commercial applications for polysaccharides include their use as food additives, medicines and industrial products. Although plant polysaccharides (such as starch, agar and alginate) have been exploited commercially for many years, microbial exopolysaccharides have only become widely used over the past few decades. The diversity of polysaccharide structure is far greater in micro-organisms compared to plants and around 20 microbial polysaccharides with market potential have been described. However, microorganisms are still considered to be a rich and as yet underexploited source of exopolysaccharides. 

Starch is often cited as a filler, but it is more commonly used in its dry state as a disintegrating agent. However, modified starches such as StaRx 1500 and National 1551 (partially hydrolyzed, or pregelatinized starch) are marketed for direct compression and appear to offer the advantage of substantial mechanical strength and rapid drug release. 

The characteristics of a starch can be modified by chemical, physical, and/or enzyme treatment to enhance or repress its intrinsic properties, or to impart new ones. This capability for modification has been a necessary factor in developing new uses for starch and in maintaining old markets. 

The main question is whether synthesis of PHA in plants can succeed in bringing the cost of the polymer down to the range of 0.5 -1 US /kg. Bacterial production of PHA typically relies on a carbon source, such as sucrose or glucose, which is produced from photosynthesis and extracted from plants. Synthesis of PHA directly in plants would, therefore, represent a saving in terms of the number of intermediary steps linking C02 fixation to PHA production. Furthermore, starch is one of the cheapest plant commodity product on the market, at about 0.25 US /kg [86]. It is, thus, likely that the production cost of PHA in plants will be substantially cheaper than bacterial fermentation. The final cost of producing PHA in plants will depend on a number of factors. 

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