Tapioca flour is a white, high-starch, and slightly sweet flour made from cassava roots. It is used as a thickening agent and gluten-free baking ingredient. Tapioca flour is low in calories and nutrients, and is combined with other gluten-free flours for baking. Cassava roots, the mother plant of tapioca, contain cyanogenic glucosides, which can be toxic, but the process of making tapioca flour eliminates these compounds.
Extracted from the dried roots of the cassava plant, tapioca flour is white in color, usually slightly sweet, and very high in starch. Tapioca flour is used worldwide as a thickening agent. This type of flour is also popular as a grain-free and gluten-free baking ingredient.
Tapioca flour is most commonly used as a thickening agent in sauces or desserts or as a component in baking. The flour itself is a superior binder and possesses a fairly bland and neutral flavor on its own. It is often replaced with cornstarch or arrowhead starch, although each of these starches affects cooking differently. Tapioca flour is particularly chewy and becomes translucent and shiny when cooked.
When baking, tapioca flour should not be replaced directly with wheat flour. If tapioca is desired as a gluten-free flour substitute, it is usually combined with potato starch, xanthan gum and then an additional gluten-free flour such as rice flour. Such a combination is necessary to obtain all the desired texture elements of most baked goods.
Nutritionally, tapioca flour is predominantly starch. It is relatively low in calories but also low in essential vitamins and minerals. The limited nutritional profile of tapioca flour explains its use as a sole thickener in much of the developed world.
Tapioca’s mother plant is cassava, or Manihot esculenta. Also sometimes called cassava or yuca, cassava is native to South America. Although still eaten by people in South America, cassava is now grown in tropical and subtropical areas around the world and has been for many hundreds of years. In fact, cassava roots remain a staple food for millions.
The cassava tuber is not widely consumed beyond the tropics and subtropics. Tapioca does, however, appear in several cuisines around the world. Common tapioca dishes include puddings, tapioca pearls, chips, flatbreads, and fufu.
Cassava roots contain chemical components called cyanogenic glucosides. Once consumed, these chemicals interact with an enzyme also found in cassava which releases hydrogen cyanide. Cassava-growing cultures around the world have developed traditional methods of preparing cassava roots that eliminate the danger of cyanide poisoning. The sweeter varieties of cassava, which are normally used to make tapioca flour, contain lower amounts of dangerous cyanogenic glucosides. The process of extracting the cassava starch to make the flour then eliminates the rest of these toxic compounds.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
