View source for Arrowroot

{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = Arrowroot
| image = Forraçao2.jpg
| image_width = 240px
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| subregnum = [[Tracheobionta]]
| divisio = [[Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Liliopsida]]
| subclassis = [[Zingiberidae]]
| ordo = [[Zingiberales]]
| familia = [[Marantaceae]]
| genus = ''[[Maranta]]''
| species = '''''M. arundinacea'''''
| binomial = ''Maranta arundinacea''
| binomial_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]
}}

'''Arrowroot''', or '''obedience plant''', (''Maranta arundinacea'') is a large [[perennial plant|perennial]] [[herb]] of genus ''[[Maranta]]'' found in [[rainforest]] habitats.  Arrowroot is also the name for the easy-to-digest [[starch]] from the [[rhizome]]s (rootstock) of West Indian arrowroot.  This plant should not be confused with ''[[Sagittaria]]'' species sometimes called "arrowhead" and used as a [[root vegetable]].

The plant is naturalized in [[Florida]], but it is chiefly cultivated in the [[West Indies]] ([[Jamaica]] and [[Saint Vincent and the Grenadines|St. Vincent]]), [[Australia]], [[Southeast Asia]], and South and East Africa. Because of this, [[Napoleon]] supposedly said the real reason for the British love of arrowroot was to support their colonies.

==Cultivation and preparation==
Arrowroot tubers contain about 23% [[starch]]. They are first washed, then cleaned of the paper-like [[scale (zoology)|scale]], 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 low-[[protein]] [[Mucilage|mucilaginous]] starch allowed to settle at the bottom as an insoluble powder. This powder, dried in the sun or in drying houses, is the "arrowroot" of commerce and it is at once packed for market in air-tight cans, packages or cases.

Arrowroot has in the past been quite extensively adulterated with [[potato starch]] and other similar substances, so care is needed in selection and buying. The genuine article is a light, white powder (the mass feeling firm to the finger and crackling like newly fallen snow when rubbed or pressed), odorless when dry, but emitting a faint, peculiar [[odor]] when mixed with boiling water, and swelling on cooking into perfect jelly, very smooth in consistency&mdash;unlike adulterated articles mixed with potato flour and other starches of lower value which contain larger particles. Most starch sold today as arrowroot is actually [[cassava]] flour, which does not have the same gelling and nutritional properties. [[Kudzu]] flour has also been described as arrowroot.

Arrowroot is used as an article of diet in the form of [[biscuit]]s, [[pudding]]s, [[jelly|jellies]], [[cake]]s, [[hot sauce]]s etc., and also with [[Bovril|beef tea]], milk or veal [[broth]], noodles in Korean cuisine, or boiled with a little flavoring added, as an easily digestible food for children and people with dietary restrictions.  The lack of [[gluten]] in arrowroot flour makes it ideal as a replacement for wheat flour in baking.

It can also be used as a thickener for acidic foods.

==History==
Archaeological studies in the [[Americas]] show evidence of arrowroot cultivation as early as 7,000 years ago. The name may come from the native Caribbean [[Arawak]] people's ''aru-aru'' (meal of meals), for which 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]] (see [http://www.aboutbookbinding.com/Paper/PaperMaking-36.html arrowroot paper]).

== External links ==
* [http://mobot.mobot.org/cgi-bin/search_vast?w3till=19700214_001.gif Maranta Image]
* [http://www.daleysfruit.com.au/Perennialveg/arrowroot.htm Arrowroot - Cana edulis]
* [http://albumen.stanford.edu/library/monographs/reilly/chap3.html arrowroot paper]
* [http://www.aboutbookbinding.com/Paper/PaperMaking-36.html arrowroot photographic paper]
* [http://www.foodsdatabase.com/LinkedLabel.aspx?FoodId=20216 Nutrition facts]

==References==
*{{Grocers}}

[[Category:Zingiberales]]
[[Category:Edible thickening agents]]
[[Category:Root vegetables]]
[[Category:Underutilized crops]]