The commercial starches of the world come mainly from corn, potato and cassava. However, food industries are searching for native starches that can satisfy the technical and economic demands for food production. The present study was conducted to evaluate the physicochemical composition of starchy tubers, saffron, ahipa, arrowroot, sweet potato, biri, yam and arracacha attempting to characterize their industrial potential. The contents of moisture, ash, protein, lipids, reducing and total sugars, fibers and starch were determined in some starchy tubers. The results showed high starch content in arrowroot (Maranta arundinacea), yam (Dioscorea sp) and biri (Canna edulis). The best results for potential starchy yield (t starch/ha) were to yam and biri.
rhizomes; roots; starch; composition
