# Starch and cellulose derivatives

Starch milled from maize, cassava, wheat and potato, its modified forms and sugars, plus cellulose ethers; a $45 billion maize-starch industry and a bio-based workhorse.

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/starch_derivatives/

Bio-based chemicals · Bio-based polymers & platforms · No. 117

- Product family
- Feedstock: Crops and biomass
- maize starch and derivatives about 84.5 Mt (2023); native starch about 60 Mt (derived: food 42 Mt at 70.1%); cellulose derivatives not published
- HS 350510, 391231
 Bio-based chemicals · Bio-based polymers & platforms · Foundation · Matter

The same maize starch thickens your custard, glues cardboard boxes and feeds the vats that brew bioplastics.

Chart: Illustration: Starch and cellulose derivatives

##### Where it comes from

Chart: Map of where it comes from

Maize is soaked for 30-50 hours, then ground and spun apart into starch, gluten, fibre and germ; cassava is simply rasped and washed.

##### Three things to know

1. India has 5.8-6.5 Mt a year of starch capacity and held a 14.3% share of world maize starch exports in 2022.
2. Starch makes up about two-thirds of a maize kernel, and the gluten, fibre and germ pay back much of the cost.
3. Cellulose cousins such as CMC and HPMC come from wood pulp or cotton linters and do similar thickening jobs.

##### The journey

1. 1 **Crops**Maize, cassava, wheat and potatoes
2. 2 **Wet milling**Steeped 30-50 hours, split into starch, gluten
3. 3 **Modification**Heat or chemicals tailor gels and charge
4. 4 **Hydrolysis**Enzymes make glucose syrups, dextrose, sorbitol
5. 5 **Uses**Food, paper, textiles, pills, fermentation
 Covered in [Pharmaceuticals and fermentation: from molecule to medicineChemicals](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/chemicals/pharmaceuticals-and-fermentation/)

##### Go deeper pick a tab to open it in full

## Other sections

- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/starch_derivatives/overview/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/starch_derivatives/correlation/index.md)
- [Production route](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/starch_derivatives/routes/index.md)
- [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/starch_derivatives/production/index.md)
- [Feedstocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/starch_derivatives/feedstocks/index.md)
- [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/starch_derivatives/cycles/index.md)
- [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/starch_derivatives/trading/index.md)
- [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/starch_derivatives/movement/index.md)
- [Regulation](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/starch_derivatives/regulation/index.md)
- [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/starch_derivatives/characteristics/index.md)
- [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/starch_derivatives/emissions/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/starch_derivatives/links/index.md)