Taro starch: Isolation, morphology, modification and novel applications concern - A review

Tuber and root crops are matured as fundamental food crops universally especially in tropical and subtropical regions. Among them, Taro (Colocasia esculenta) considered as 5th chief root crop due to its medicinal, ornamental and food formulation facets. Competitively it holds a considerable amount of starch even more than that to potato, sweet potato, cassava and so on. Taro corms starch (70-80%) contemplate as a cheapest abode for food industries due to its multifarious potentiality in food like stabilizer, emulsifier, fat substitute and as filler agent too. Baby foods, packaging material novelties, geriatric foods with resistant starch incorporation are the recently explored deliverables. Moreover, quality attributes of taro starch increases its behavioral versatility after modification competitively in a much better manner than native starch. This review aims to outline the current awareness about taro starch's molecular pattern, isolation procedures, properties, modifications and novel hit approaches for commercial viability. Gluten-free trait, hypoallergenic features and high digestibility are the additional benefits that widens its application scope to adapt better among pharma and textile in along with food sector. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.