The main distinction between starch and flour is that starch is an odorless, tasteless, white solid substance at room temperature, consisting of carbohydrates with carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms, while flour is a powder obtained by grinding raw grains, which is used to make various foods such as bread, cakes, and pastries. Starch is a carbohydrate containing carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms, whereas flour is a powder derived from grinding raw grains. Flour has a high starch content.
Key Takeaways
- Starch is a carbohydrate, while flour is a powder made from grinding raw grains.
- Both starch and flour originate from plants, but starch goes through more processing than flour.
- Flour, which has a high proportion of starch, is used as a main ingredient in staple foods like bread and pasta, while starch is used as a thickener and sweetener.
What is Starch?
Starch is a carbohydrate containing carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms. Most plants, including rice, corn, potatoes, and wheat, store their energy as starch. As a result, we can extract starch from these foods. Starch digestion produces glucose.
Starch is an odorless, tasteless, white solid substance at room temperature that does not dissolve in cold water. To determine whether a certain food item contains starch, you can perform the Iodine test. In this test, the orange-yellow iodine solution turns blue-black if starch is present.
Starch has many uses. Food companies use it to create sweeteners and thickeners. Inside the body, starch produces glucose, which is a major energy source. It is also possible to modify pure starch through chemical, physical, or enzymatic processes to create ‘modified starches’. These have various properties, which are useful in the food, oil, adhesives, paper, textile, fermentation, and pharmaceutical industries.
What is Flour?
Flour is a powder obtained by grinding raw grains, and it is used to make various foods such as bread, cakes, and pastries. Cereal flour is one of the main ingredients of staple food in most cultures. Wheat flour, corn flour, rice flour, and rye flour are examples of various types of flour.
Cereal grains typically have three main components: bran (hard outer shell), germ (nutrient-rich embryo), and endosperm (largest part, mainly starch). White flour is made only from the endosperm, while brown flour includes some grains’ germ and bran. Cereal flour either consists of the endosperm, germ, and bran together, known as whole-grain flour, or only the endosperm, known as refined flour.
Flour contains a high proportion of starch. Higher protein content makes flour harder and stronger, resulting in crusty and chewy breads, while lower protein content produces softer flour, ideal for cakes and cookies.
Flour production typically involves milling. Milling traditionally involves grinding grain between stones or steel wheels. However, today, many modern machines can convert raw grains into flour.
What is the Relationship Between Starch and Flour?
Flour contains a high proportion of starch.
Also, both products start from the same origin – plants.
What is the Difference Between Starch and Flour?
The key difference between starch and flour is that starch is a tasteless, odorless, white solid substance at room temperature, containing carbohydrates with carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms, while flour is a powder obtained by grinding raw grains, which is used to make various foods such as bread, cakes, and pastries. Starch is extracted from carbohydrate-rich foods like potatoes, corn, and wheat, while flour is made by grinding raw grains. Starch is used as thickeners and sweeteners, but flour serves as a main ingredient in staples like bread, pasta, and noodles. Another difference between starch and flour is that starch goes through a lot of processing, while flour undergoes comparatively minimal processing.
The infographic below highlights the difference between starch and flour.
Summary – Starch vs Flour
Many people use the terms starch and flour interchangeably. However, starch and flour are two different substances. The key difference between starch and flour is that starch is a tasteless, odorless, white solid substance at room temperature, containing carbohydrates with carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms, while flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, which is used to make various foods such as bread, cakes, and pastries.
Reference:
1. “What Is Starch?” BBC News, BBC, 23 Oct. 2018. Available here
2. “What Is Starch? What Is It Used for? Why Do We Need It?” Starch Europe. Available here
3. “Flour.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 13 Feb. 2019. Available here
Image Courtesy:
1. “Corn Starch” By Miansari66 – Own work, (Public Domain) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Flours” By Mudd1 – Own work, (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia
