corn on the cob from yellow color. The toasted corn flakes we eat for breakfast are also toasted. Many confections made from corn have a yellowish tinge. However, in Spain we use corn starch, some people call corn flour, the color of which is completely white. Why is corn starch white while other corn products are yellow?
Basically, the quick answer to this question is that cornstarch is white because it’s not cornmeal. It does not contain all the grain of the cereal and, therefore, it not only has a different color, but also its consistency is very different.
Cornmeal is coarser and cornstarch is a fine powder. In addition, their nutritional value is very different, and the applications they are given in the kitchen are also very different. In any case, before we start talking about it, we should clarify that corn starch is the trade name and colloquial name given to this product in some countries, such as Spain. But that doesn’t mean we can’t find it in other parts of the world. It’s just that the name will be different, so the easiest way to look for it is as starch or cornstarch.
Why is cornstarch white?
Cereals have all parts of the seed: pericarp, embryo and endosperm. The first, also known as bran, is the outer shell and contains a lot of fiber, vitamins and minerals. The second is the germ, which, if it appeared, would form a new plant. First of all, it is rich in lipids. Finally, the endosperm is made up primarily of a complex sugar known as starch or starch
corn flour It is prepared by grinding whole grains with these three parts, so it has all of its properties. This is what is known with both this and other cereals as Whole grain flour. On the other hand, to make cornstarch, the bran and germ are removed, leaving only the endosperm. Bran has a yellowish tint, as we can see in corn fields, while starch is a very whitish substance. For this reason, all cornmeal is yellowish, while cornstarch is white.
What are they for?
Cornstarch is basically a starch. Does not contain lipids and proteins, so it cannot be used to make bread or biscuits. They would basically be sugar. In these cases, full-fledged cornmeal is used.
On the other hand, corn starch is very useful for thicken sauces or stews. Of course, you need to be careful, because if you add it to a hot liquid, then lumps quickly begin to form. For this reason, it must first be mixed with a cold liquid such as water or milk, depending on the recipe. Once this is done, it can be added to a hot sauce or stew that we want to thicken.
In short, corn starch is white because there was very little corn left in it. It is not comparable to the flour from this cereal, neither in color, nor in nutritional value, nor in culinary use. But there are many pantries in which he cannot be absent.
Source: Hiper Textual