Simple identification of original Arrowroot starch powder......

Arrowroot powder is obtained from the fresh or dried, mature, and peeled roots of the Maranta arundinacea (Family - Marantaceae). Nowadays, starch is obtained from many starchy roots like Ipomea batatas (sweet potato), Manihot esculanta (kandmool or maravalli kizhangu), Curcuma augustifolia (tikhur or East Indian arrowroot). 

Many of Ayurveda and Siddha preparation requires original arrowroot powder or its refined and purified starch grains. But it is very difficult to find out real arrowroot powder or starch in absence of clear-cut identification in various Indian Pharmacopoeias. Now the question is how to then identify the real arrowroot powder to prepare an authentic medicine with good potency and efficacy.

In market maximum adulteration to arrowroot powder made with the starch of Manihot esculanta, which is commonly called Tapioca starch in the open market. Maranta arundinacea and  Manihot esculanta, both showed more or less similar resemblances externally but no worry, here, I will give you the best and simplest ideas to identify the material in order to get an adulterated one. 

Characteristics of Arrowroot powder and starch: Arrowroot starch will be pure white color but the powder will be light cream or off white color. Under the microscope, the starch of arrowroot powder exhibits circular, oval, or pear-shaped with a diameter of 20 to 40 µ, occasionally even unto 75 µ, with concentric striations and a central or lateral, linear or crossed hilum.

[Arrowroot starch grains]

Characteristics of kandmoola or maravalli kizhangu powder and starch: It will be pure white in the market just like rice powder and gives a creaking sound when pressed in between the fingers. The main distinguishing characters are the shape and hilum of the starch grains. The shape is irregular, oval, half dumb-bell shaped, half-barrel shaped, triangular, and size varies from 15 to 55 µ., The hilum is linear or concentric.  

[Tapioca starch grains]

Both types of starch can be easily distinguished when place under the microscope due to their unique characters. I hope, the above ideas of identification would surely help many business people, research scholars, and manufacturing companies to get unadulterated and genuine material.