CHAPTER XVIII 



Uses of Starch 



Starch is the alimentary provision of plants. 

 Wherever there are shoots which are to 

 develop independently, wherever there is a 

 germ, there is also a quantity of starch 

 which serves as an abundant store. It is 

 found in tubers, suckers, bulbs, grains, and 

 fleshy roots. As these shoots and germs 

 develop through the process of vegetation, the 

 starch becomes a kind of sugar, which is 

 soluble in water, and is able to penetrate the 

 young plant and serve for its food. 



By certain processes man is able to effect 

 this same change of starch into a sweet 

 substance. The most simple of these is the 

 employment of heat, which always takes 

 part in the preparation of floury foods. For 

 instance, a raw potato is uneatable ; but 

 boiled in water, or baked under the ashes, 

 it is excellent. What, then, has happened ? 

 Part of the starch has been converted into 



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