ABSTRACT
Starches are the principle food reserve polysaccharides in plants and are therefore the major source of carbohydrates in the human diet, traditionally supplyingf70-80% of the calories consumed by humans with approximately twothirds of these calories coming from starch [1-3]. Starch is present in all staple foods, e.g., wheat (Triticum vulgare), maize (Zea mays), rice (Oryza sativa), potato (Solanum tuberosum), sago (Metroxylon palm species), tapioca/cassava (Manihot esculenta), rye (Secale cereale), barley (Hordeum vulgare), oats (Avena sativa), etc. [4-14]. Other less common sources of starch include sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), yam/sweet potato (Dioscorea species), and arrowroot (Maranta arundinacea) [4,5,7,12,15].
