Composition, morphology and physicochemical properties of starches derived from indigenous Ethiopian tuber crops: A review

Starch is a key food ingredient that can be extracted from roots, tubers, cereals, legumes and used in a variety of industrial applications. The issue of starch has received considerable critical attention. Most conventional sources of starch are being overexploited, it is necessary to investigate new botanical sources of starch to relieve pressure on traditional sources. Indigenous Ethiopian tuber crops can represent unexploited sources of starch with interesting characteristics in terms of potential uses as starch-based foods. It comes in a variety of shapes, sizes and properties allowing for a wide range of applications with high technological value in both the food and nonfood industries. Compared to common starches, these starches have far fewer studies on their food and industrial applications. In the future, tubers grown Ethiopia could become another source of starch for the processor. This review summarizes current knowledge about the composition, structure, and physicochemical properties of Ethiopian tubers starches, intending to recommend future research to improve their use in the food industry. In the future, more in-depth work will be needed to reveal the mechanism of modification involved for structural change to use these starches for different purposes.

Automated summary

Starch, a key food ingredient, can be extracted from various sources such as roots, tubers, cereals, and legumes for industrial applications. The overexploitation of conventional starch sources has led to the need for exploring new botanical sources like indigenous Ethiopian tuber crops. These tubers offer unique characteristics for potential use in food and nonfood industries, but further research is required to fully understand their applications compared to common starches.