Arrowroot
Encyclopedia
Arrowroot, or obedience plant (Maranta
arundinacea), Bermuda arrowroot, araru, ararao, is a large perennial
herb
found in rainforest
habitats. It is cultivated for a starch
obtained from the rhizome
s (rootstock), which is also called arrowroot.
, but it is chiefly cultivated in the West Indies (Jamaica
and St. Vincent
), Australia
, Southeast Asia
, and South and East Africa. It used to be very popular in British cuisine
, and Napoleon supposedly said the reason for the British love of arrowroot was to support their colonies.
. They are first washed, and then cleaned of the paper-like scale
. The scales must be carefully removed before the extraction of the starch because they impart their disagreeable flavor if allowed to remain. After the removal of the scale, the roots are washed again, drained and finally reduced to a pulp by beating them in mortars or subjecting them to the action of the wheel-rasp. The milky liquid thus obtained is passed through a coarse cloth or hair sieve and the pure starch, which is insoluble, is allowed to settle at the bottom. The wet starch is dried in the sun or in a drying house. The result is a powder, the "arrowroot" of commerce, and it is at once packed for market in air-tight cans, packages or cases.
Arrowroot starch has in the past been quite extensively adulterated with potato starch
and other similar substances, so care is needed in selection and buying. Pure arrowroot, like other pure starches, is a light, white powder (the mass feeling firm to the finger and crackling like newly fallen snow when rubbed or pressed), odourless when dry, but emitting a faint, peculiar odour when mixed with boiling water, and swelling on cooking into a perfect jelly
, which can be used to make a food for vegetarians very smooth in consistency — unlike adulterated articles, mixed with potato flour and other starches of lower value, which contain larger particles.
s, pudding
s, jellies, cake
s, hot sauce
s, etc., and also with beef tea
, milk or veal broth
, noodles
in Korean and Vietnamese cuisine. In the Victorian era it was used, boiled with a little flavoring added, as an easily digestible food for children and people with dietary restrictions. With today's greater understanding of its limited nutritional properties, it is no longer used in this way.
Arrowroot makes clear, shimmering fruit gels and prevents ice crystals from forming in homemade ice cream. It can also be used as a thickener for acidic foods, such as Asian sweet and sour sauce. It is invaluable in cooking when you wish to have a clear, thickened sauce, for example, a fruit sauce. It will not make the sauce go cloudy, as for example will cornstarch, flour or other starchy thickening agents.
The lack of gluten
in arrowroot flour makes it useful as a replacement for wheat flour in baking. Like other pure starches, however, arrowroot is almost pure carbohydrate
and devoid of protein
, thus it does not equal wheat flour nutritionally.
Arrowroot thickens at a lower temperature than does flour or cornstarch
, is not weakened by acidic ingredients, has a more neutral taste, and is not affected by freezing. It doesn't mix well with dairy, forming a slimy mixture. It is recommended to mix arrowroot with a cool liquid before adding to a hot fluid. The mixture should be heated only until the mixture thickens and removed immediately to prevent the mixture from thinning. Overheating tends to break down arrowroot's thickening property. Substitute two teaspoons of arrowroot for one tablespoon of cornstarch, or one teaspoon of arrowroot for one tablespoon of wheat flour.
show evidence of arrowroot cultivation as early as 7,000 years ago. The name may come from aru-aru (meal of meals) in the language of the Caribbean Arawak people, for whom the plant is a staple. It has also been suggested that the name comes from arrowroot's use in treating poison arrow wounds, as it draws out the poison when applied to the site of the injury.
In the early days of carbonless copy paper
s, arrowroot, because of its fine grain size, was a widely used ingredient. After an economical way of centrifugally separating wheat flour was devised, arrowroot lost its role in papermaking
.
, Southeast Asia
and East Africa. St. Vincent is a major producer of arrowroot in the world.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines has a long history of arrowroot production. The industry arose from humble beginnings as the food and medicine of the Carib and Garifuna peoples to the status of a major export of St. Vincent during the period 1900 to 1965. It became an important commodity in colonial trade in the 1930s. As the sugar
industry declined in the nineteenth century, cultivation of arrowroot was developed to fill the void. Since then, the area cultivated declined steadily and the as the crop was eclipsed by competition from other crops, particularly banana. Evidence of its former glory is indicated by the ruins of the various magnificent 19th century factories located in every valley on St. Vincent mainland.
Arrowroot cultivation is now concentrated on farms located north of the Rabacca River particularly in the Owia area. This is also the area where the population of Carib descent is concentrated. In 1998/99, the industry produced 312000 lb (141,520.8 kg) of starch, which represents about three percent of the maximum levels that the island exported in the 1960s.
In the past, the St. Vincent Arrowroot Industry played an important role in the economy of the island, contributing close to 50% of the country's foreign export earnings and was the principal source of employment and income of the rural people from the 1930s to the 1960s. During the War Years, the Industry donated a spitfire fighter plane to the Colonial War efforts. By the end of the War, the Industry contributed to the construction of the Peace Memorial Hall in recognition of local effort to the War.
The plant is propagated from other rhizome
s and cultivation takes place up to heights of 300 metres on the eastern and windward facing side of the highlands of St.Vincent. Cultivation covers an area of about 3,700 ha. and some 80% of the crop is grown by small farmers. The arrowroot plant is very hardy and not very demanding in its requirements. St. Vincent, particularly the north-east coast, provides the ideal growing conditions for optimal yields; deep, well drained, slightly acidic soils and a hot humid climate. Some peasants farmers produce the crop by shifting cultivation
on the cleared forested slopes.
Arrowroot farming is labor intensive especially at harvesting which is done manually. The starch is derived from the underground storage stems or rhizomes, which are plowed up, manually removed from the field and processed at the plant at Owia. The dried starch
is refined and tested for purity, graded and package for export.
The harvesting season extends from October to May. On the larger estates, the harvesting of the rhizome usually takes place from the base of a hill
towards the top. Harvesting involves breaking off the rhizome from the shoot. Planting and harvesting are inter-related in that when the rhizomes are harvested the shoot is replanted at the same time. In St. Vincent, much use is made of rural
unemployment and many women workers are involved in the various phases of operation. Mechanical harvesters have recently been introduced and this allows the arrowroot to be harvested in a shorter time. However, this will lead to some existing workers being unemployed even though labor is becoming increasingly difficult.
When processing
the rhizome
of tuber
s, the roots are peeled and washed. The rhizome is grated in water and the fiber
extracted, but mechanical grinding on the estates is performed. The extract is dried to a powder flake and is washed several. Although this is done by hand, machines are also used. It is then placed in vats of water. By this process, the starch which is the marketable product, settles. The final product is graded and blended for export. The greatest benefit to the island from the industry comes from the processing to a finished packaged product on island.
Six factories process
the island's arrowroot and large size processing plant
s are located at Belle Vue and at Owia.
Arrowroot is also used to refer to a similar edible starch obtained from various other tropical plants, for example West Indian arrowroot.
The term arrowroot sometimes is used to refer to any starch, not specifically arrowroot starch. In particular, Florida arrowroot
was a commercial starch derived from Zamia pumila, harvested from the wild in Florida. Most starch sold today as arrowroot actually is tapioca
.
Maranta
Maranta can refer to:*The Marantaceae family of "prayer plants", including arrowroot*Maranta , a genus within that familyMaranta as a personal name may refer to:...
arundinacea), Bermuda arrowroot, araru, ararao, is a large perennial
Perennial plant
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter lived annuals and biennials. The term is sometimes misused by commercial gardeners or horticulturalists to describe only herbaceous perennials...
herb
Herb
Except in botanical usage, an herb is "any plant with leaves, seeds, or flowers used for flavoring, food, medicine, or perfume" or "a part of such a plant as used in cooking"...
found in rainforest
Rainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...
habitats. It is cultivated for a starch
Starch
Starch or amylum is a carbohydrate consisting of a large number of glucose units joined together by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by all green plants as an energy store...
obtained from the rhizome
Rhizome
In botany and dendrology, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes...
s (rootstock), which is also called arrowroot.
Description
A perennial plant about two feet high, arrowroot has small white flowers; and fruits about the size and form of currants. The rootstocks are dug when the plant is a year old, and often exceed 1 feet (30.5 cm) in length and 0.75 inches (19.1 mm) in diameter. They are yellowish white, jointed and covered with loose scales.Habitat
The plant is naturalized in FloridaFlorida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, but it is chiefly cultivated in the West Indies (Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
and St. Vincent
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is an island country in the Lesser Antilles chain, namely in the southern portion of the Windward Islands, which lie at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea where the latter meets the Atlantic Ocean....
), Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
, and South and East Africa. It used to be very popular in British cuisine
British cuisine
English cuisine encompasses the cooking styles, traditions and recipes associated with England. It has distinctive attributes of its own, but also shares much with wider British cuisine, largely due to the importation of ingredients and ideas from places such as North America, China, and India...
, and Napoleon supposedly said the reason for the British love of arrowroot was to support their colonies.
Starch extraction process
Arrowroot tubers contain about 23% starchStarch
Starch or amylum is a carbohydrate consisting of a large number of glucose units joined together by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by all green plants as an energy store...
. They are first washed, and then cleaned of the paper-like scale
Scale (zoology)
In most biological nomenclature, a scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of an animal's skin to provide protection. In lepidopteran species, scales are plates on the surface of the insect wing, and provide coloration...
. The scales must be carefully removed before the extraction of the starch because they impart their disagreeable flavor if allowed to remain. After the removal of the scale, the roots are washed again, drained and finally reduced to a pulp by beating them in mortars or subjecting them to the action of the wheel-rasp. The milky liquid thus obtained is passed through a coarse cloth or hair sieve and the pure starch, which is insoluble, is allowed to settle at the bottom. The wet starch is dried in the sun or in a drying house. The result is a powder, the "arrowroot" of commerce, and it is at once packed for market in air-tight cans, packages or cases.
Arrowroot starch has in the past been quite extensively adulterated with potato starch
Potato starch
Potato starch is starch extracted from potatoes. The cells of the root tubers of the potato plant contain starch grains . To extract the starch, the potatoes are crushed; the starch grains are released from the destroyed cells...
and other similar substances, so care is needed in selection and buying. Pure arrowroot, like other pure starches, is a light, white powder (the mass feeling firm to the finger and crackling like newly fallen snow when rubbed or pressed), odourless when dry, but emitting a faint, peculiar odour when mixed with boiling water, and swelling on cooking into a perfect jelly
Gelatin
Gelatin is a translucent, colorless, brittle , flavorless solid substance, derived from the collagen inside animals' skin and bones. It is commonly used as a gelling agent in food, pharmaceuticals, photography, and cosmetic manufacturing. Substances containing gelatin or functioning in a similar...
, which can be used to make a food for vegetarians very smooth in consistency — unlike adulterated articles, mixed with potato flour and other starches of lower value, which contain larger particles.
Cooking
Arrowroot is used as an article of diet in the form of biscuitBiscuit
A biscuit is a baked, edible, and commonly flour-based product. The term is used to apply to two distinctly different products in North America and the Commonwealth Nations....
s, pudding
Pudding
Pudding most often refers to a dessert, but it can also be a savory dish.In the United States, pudding characteristically denotes a sweet milk-based dessert similar in consistency to egg-based custards, though it may also refer to other types such as bread and rice pudding.In the United Kingdom and...
s, jellies, cake
Cake
Cake is a form of bread or bread-like food. In its modern forms, it is typically a sweet and enriched baked dessert. In its oldest forms, cakes were normally fried breads or cheesecakes, and normally had a disk shape...
s, hot sauce
Hot sauce
Hot sauce, chili sauce or pepper sauce refers to any spicy sauce made from chili peppers and other ingredients.-Ingredients:There are many recipes for hot sauces - the common ingredient being any kind of peppers. A group of chemicals called capsaicinoids are responsible for the heat in chili peppers...
s, etc., and also with beef tea
Bovril
Bovril is the trademarked name of a thick, salty meat extract, developed in the 1870s by John Lawson Johnston and sold in a distinctive, bulbous jar. It is made in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, owned and distributed by Unilever UK....
, milk or veal broth
Broth
Broth is a liquid food preparation, typically consisting of either water or an already flavored stock, in which bones, meat, fish, cereal grains, or vegetables have been simmered. Broth is used as a basis for other edible liquids such as soup, gravy, or sauce. It can be eaten alone or with garnish...
, noodles
Naengmyeon
Naengmyeon is a Korean dish of long and thin hand-made noodles made from the flour and starch of various ingredients: buckwheat , potatoes, sweet potatoes, 칡냉면, naengmyun made with the starch from arrowroot , and kudzu...
in Korean and Vietnamese cuisine. In the Victorian era it was used, boiled with a little flavoring added, as an easily digestible food for children and people with dietary restrictions. With today's greater understanding of its limited nutritional properties, it is no longer used in this way.
Arrowroot makes clear, shimmering fruit gels and prevents ice crystals from forming in homemade ice cream. It can also be used as a thickener for acidic foods, such as Asian sweet and sour sauce. It is invaluable in cooking when you wish to have a clear, thickened sauce, for example, a fruit sauce. It will not make the sauce go cloudy, as for example will cornstarch, flour or other starchy thickening agents.
The lack of gluten
Gluten
Gluten is a protein composite found in foods processed from wheat and related grain species, including barley and rye...
in arrowroot flour makes it useful as a replacement for wheat flour in baking. Like other pure starches, however, arrowroot is almost pure carbohydrate
Carbohydrate
A carbohydrate is an organic compound with the empirical formula ; that is, consists only of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, with a hydrogen:oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 . However, there are exceptions to this. One common example would be deoxyribose, a component of DNA, which has the empirical...
and devoid of protein
Protein
Proteins are biochemical compounds consisting of one or more polypeptides typically folded into a globular or fibrous form, facilitating a biological function. A polypeptide is a single linear polymer chain of amino acids bonded together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of...
, thus it does not equal wheat flour nutritionally.
Arrowroot thickens at a lower temperature than does flour or cornstarch
Cornstarch
Corn starch, cornstarch, cornflour or maize starch is the starch of the corn grain obtained from the endosperm of the corn kernel.-History:...
, is not weakened by acidic ingredients, has a more neutral taste, and is not affected by freezing. It doesn't mix well with dairy, forming a slimy mixture. It is recommended to mix arrowroot with a cool liquid before adding to a hot fluid. The mixture should be heated only until the mixture thickens and removed immediately to prevent the mixture from thinning. Overheating tends to break down arrowroot's thickening property. Substitute two teaspoons of arrowroot for one tablespoon of cornstarch, or one teaspoon of arrowroot for one tablespoon of wheat flour.
History
Archaeological studies in the AmericasAmericas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
show evidence of arrowroot cultivation as early as 7,000 years ago. The name may come from aru-aru (meal of meals) in the language of the Caribbean Arawak people, for whom the plant is a staple. It has also been suggested that the name comes from arrowroot's use in treating poison arrow wounds, as it draws out the poison when applied to the site of the injury.
In the early days of carbonless copy paper
Carbonless copy paper
Carbonless copy paper , non-carbon copy paper, or NCR paper is an alternative to carbon paper, used to make a copy of an original, handwritten document without the use of any electronics...
s, arrowroot, because of its fine grain size, was a widely used ingredient. After an economical way of centrifugally separating wheat flour was devised, arrowroot lost its role in papermaking
Papermaking
Papermaking is the process of making paper, a substance which is used universally today for writing and packaging.In papermaking a dilute suspension of fibres in water is drained through a screen, so that a mat of randomly interwoven fibres is laid down. Water is removed from this mat of fibres by...
.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
The Arrowroot industry in St. Vincent is essential for foreign exchange. Arrowroot production in St. Vincent has competition from places such as AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
and East Africa. St. Vincent is a major producer of arrowroot in the world.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines has a long history of arrowroot production. The industry arose from humble beginnings as the food and medicine of the Carib and Garifuna peoples to the status of a major export of St. Vincent during the period 1900 to 1965. It became an important commodity in colonial trade in the 1930s. As the sugar
Sugar
Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...
industry declined in the nineteenth century, cultivation of arrowroot was developed to fill the void. Since then, the area cultivated declined steadily and the as the crop was eclipsed by competition from other crops, particularly banana. Evidence of its former glory is indicated by the ruins of the various magnificent 19th century factories located in every valley on St. Vincent mainland.
Arrowroot cultivation is now concentrated on farms located north of the Rabacca River particularly in the Owia area. This is also the area where the population of Carib descent is concentrated. In 1998/99, the industry produced 312000 lb (141,520.8 kg) of starch, which represents about three percent of the maximum levels that the island exported in the 1960s.
In the past, the St. Vincent Arrowroot Industry played an important role in the economy of the island, contributing close to 50% of the country's foreign export earnings and was the principal source of employment and income of the rural people from the 1930s to the 1960s. During the War Years, the Industry donated a spitfire fighter plane to the Colonial War efforts. By the end of the War, the Industry contributed to the construction of the Peace Memorial Hall in recognition of local effort to the War.
- Temperatures: Temperatures should average 25 °C to 27 °C.
- Rainfall: Rainfall should vary between 1,500 mm to 1,800 mm.
- Drainage: Adequate drainage is necessary as too much stagnant water causes the plant to rot.
- Soil: Alluvial and volcanic soils are suitable, with a sloping surface well-suited for best yieldsCrop yieldIn agriculture, crop yield is not only a measure of the yield of cereal per unit area of land under cultivation, yield is also the seed generation of the plant itself...
. In St.Vincent, arrowroot is cultivated on yellow and brown latosols. These soilSoilSoil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics...
s are mature and have a clayey loamLoamLoam is soil composed of sand, silt, and clay in relatively even concentration . Loam soils generally contain more nutrients and humus than sandy soils, have better infiltration and drainage than silty soils, and are easier to till than clay soils...
textureSoil textureSoil texture is a qualitative classification tool used in both the field and laboratory to determine classes for agricultural soils based on their physical texture. The classes are distinguished in the field by the 'textural feel' which can be further clarified by separating the relative...
.
- Used as an odorless baby powderBaby powderBaby powder is an astringent powder used for preventing diaper rash, as a deodorant, and for other cosmetic uses. It may be composed of talc or corn starch. Talcum powder is harmful if inhaled since it may cause aspiration pneumonia or granuloma. Drugs such as cocaine are sometimes cut with...
. - A product for use in cookies, baby foods, dessertDessertIn cultures around the world, dessert is a course that typically comes at the end of a meal, usually consisting of sweet food. The word comes from the French language as dessert and this from Old French desservir, "to clear the table" and "to serve." Common Western desserts include cakes, biscuits,...
mixes and breakfastBreakfastBreakfast is the first meal taken after rising from a night's sleep, most often eaten in the early morning before undertaking the day's work...
foods. - Used in production of high quality computer paper as well as for a myriad of food, beverages, animal feeds and pharmaceutical products.
- In its natural form it is in high demand as a cooking thickener of gravies, and sauces.
The plant is propagated from other rhizome
Rhizome
In botany and dendrology, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes...
s and cultivation takes place up to heights of 300 metres on the eastern and windward facing side of the highlands of St.Vincent. Cultivation covers an area of about 3,700 ha. and some 80% of the crop is grown by small farmers. The arrowroot plant is very hardy and not very demanding in its requirements. St. Vincent, particularly the north-east coast, provides the ideal growing conditions for optimal yields; deep, well drained, slightly acidic soils and a hot humid climate. Some peasants farmers produce the crop by shifting cultivation
Shifting cultivation
Shifting cultivation is an agricultural system in which plots of land are cultivated temporarily, then abandoned. This system often involves clearing of a piece of land followed by several years of wood harvesting or farming, until the soil loses fertility...
on the cleared forested slopes.
Arrowroot farming is labor intensive especially at harvesting which is done manually. The starch is derived from the underground storage stems or rhizomes, which are plowed up, manually removed from the field and processed at the plant at Owia. The dried starch
Starch
Starch or amylum is a carbohydrate consisting of a large number of glucose units joined together by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by all green plants as an energy store...
is refined and tested for purity, graded and package for export.
The harvesting season extends from October to May. On the larger estates, the harvesting of the rhizome usually takes place from the base of a hill
Hill
A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. Hills often have a distinct summit, although in areas with scarp/dip topography a hill may refer to a particular section of flat terrain without a massive summit A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. Hills...
towards the top. Harvesting involves breaking off the rhizome from the shoot. Planting and harvesting are inter-related in that when the rhizomes are harvested the shoot is replanted at the same time. In St. Vincent, much use is made of rural
Rural
Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...
unemployment and many women workers are involved in the various phases of operation. Mechanical harvesters have recently been introduced and this allows the arrowroot to be harvested in a shorter time. However, this will lead to some existing workers being unemployed even though labor is becoming increasingly difficult.
When processing
Food processing
Food processing is the set of methods and techniques used to transform raw ingredients into food or to transform food into other forms for consumption by humans or animals either in the home or by the food processing industry...
the rhizome
Rhizome
In botany and dendrology, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes...
of tuber
Tuber
Tubers are various types of modified plant structures that are enlarged to store nutrients. They are used by plants to survive the winter or dry months and provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growing season and they are a means of asexual reproduction...
s, the roots are peeled and washed. The rhizome is grated in water and the fiber
Fiber
Fiber is a class of materials that are continuous filaments or are in discrete elongated pieces, similar to lengths of thread.They are very important in the biology of both plants and animals, for holding tissues together....
extracted, but mechanical grinding on the estates is performed. The extract is dried to a powder flake and is washed several. Although this is done by hand, machines are also used. It is then placed in vats of water. By this process, the starch which is the marketable product, settles. The final product is graded and blended for export. The greatest benefit to the island from the industry comes from the processing to a finished packaged product on island.
Six factories process
Industrial process
Industrial processes are procedures involving chemical or mechanical steps to aid in the manufacture of an item or items, usually carried out on a very large scale. Industrial processes are the key components of heavy industry....
the island's arrowroot and large size processing plant
Plant
Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...
s are located at Belle Vue and at Owia.
Disambiguation
Maranta arundinacea should not be confused with other plants with similar common names. These include:- SagittariaSagittariaSagittaria is a genus of about 30 species of aquatic plants whose members go by a variety of common names, including arrowhead, duck potato, iz-ze-kn, katniss, kuwai , swan potato, tule potato, and wapato...
species, sometimes called "arrowhead" and used as a root vegetableRoot vegetableRoot vegetables are plant roots used as vegetables. Here "root" means any underground part of a plant.Root vegetables are generally storage organs, enlarged to store energy in the form of carbohydrates. They differ in the concentration and the balance between sugars, starches, and other types of... - Pluchea sericeaPluchea sericeaPluchea sericea, commonly called Arrowweed, is a rhizomatous evergreen shrub of riparian areas in the lower Sonoran Desert and surrounding areas...
, sometimes called "arrowweed", which also has edible roots. - Zamia pumilaZamia pumilaZamia pumila, or Coontie, is a small, tough, woody cycad of the West Indies and Cuba. Zamia pumila was the first species described for the genus and hence is the type species for the genus Zamia and the family Zamiaceae....
, a cycadCycadCycads are seed plants typically characterized by a stout and woody trunk with a crown of large, hard and stiff, evergreen leaves. They usually have pinnate leaves. The individual plants are either all male or all female . Cycads vary in size from having a trunk that is only a few centimeters...
sometimes known as Florida arrowroot. - Queensland arrowroot, a cultivar belonging to the Canna Agriculture GroupCanna Agriculture GroupThe Canna Agriculture Group contains all of the varieties of Canna used in agriculture. Canna achira is a generic term used in South America to describe the cannas that have been selectively bred for agricultural purposes, normally derived from C. discolor...
. - Colocasia esculentaColocasia esculentaColocasia esculenta is a tropical plant grown primarily for its edible corms, the root vegetables whose many names include Taro and Eddoe. It is believed to be one of the earliest cultivated plants.-Description:Rhizomes of different shapes and sizes...
, taro but erroneously called arrowroot in East AfricaEast AfricaEast Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
. - Curcuma Angustifolia, belongs to the ZingiberaceaeZingiberaceaeZingiberaceae, or the Ginger family, is a family of flowering plants consisting of aromatic perennial herbs with creeping horizontal or tuberous rhizomes, comprising ca. 52 genera and more than 1300 species, distributed throughout tropical Africa, Asia, and the Americas.Many species are important...
family the roots yields starch it is cultivated widely in IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
Arrowroot is also used to refer to a similar edible starch obtained from various other tropical plants, for example West Indian arrowroot.
The term arrowroot sometimes is used to refer to any starch, not specifically arrowroot starch. In particular, Florida arrowroot
Florida arrowroot
Florida arrowroot was the commercial name of an edible starch extracted from Zamia integrifolia , a small cycad native to North America.-Use:...
was a commercial starch derived from Zamia pumila, harvested from the wild in Florida. Most starch sold today as arrowroot actually is tapioca
Tapioca
Tapioca is a starch extracted Manihot esculenta. This species, native to the Amazon, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and most of the West Indies, is now cultivated worldwide and has many names, including cassava, manioc, aipim,...
.
