Arrowroot powder, also known as arrowroot flour, ararot powder or arrowroot starch is a healthier alternative to the common cooking ingredients for bread, pasta, and cakes. Generally, arrowroot flour is used as a replacement for corn-starch as a healthier alternative. It is gluten-free, which makes it more valuable today with the rising incidence of celiac disease in many countries.
Arrowroot powder has been used as an aid for digestion for over a century, documented as early as 1900. According to research about Antarctic expeditions of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it was one of the four main medicinal foods and drinks for the explorers whose bodies were largely devoid of vitamins. Arrowroot is used as a nutritional food for infants and for people recovering from illness. It is also used for stomach and intestinal disorders, including diarrhea. Babies cut teeth on arrowroot cookies.
Arrowroot powder or starch is obtained from the rhizomes of Maranta arundinacea, a tropical perennial herb, the rhizome of the plant, or the full plant itself. In addition to the Maranta arundinacea variety, it is obtained from Zamia integrifolia (known as Florida arrowroot) and tapioca from cassava (Manihot esculenta). A similar plant, known as “kudzu,” is referred to as Japanese arrowroot (fromPueraria lobata) and is used in the same fashion.
Arrowroot powder is harvested from the tubers of its plant without the use of harsh chemicals or high heat. In fact, the modern extraction process, which includes washing, peeling, soaking, and drying the fleshy roots in the sun, is not much different from the process used throughout recorded history.
In foods, arrowroot is used as an ingredient in cooking and for making thin arrowroot biscuits, which are supposed to be good for health. Arrowroot is often replaced with cheaper starches, including potato, corn, wheat, or rice starch.
Today, arrowroot is used most often as a thickener in food. It serves as a gluten-free, healthier alternative to cornstarch, which is often a genetically modified (GMO) product and even when it’s organic it’s estimated that 25 percent of organic corn is GMO contaminated.
Also beneficial for sensitive digestive systems, it is one of the easiest starches for the body to digest. It’s an excellent homeopathic treatment for various common medical issues and is also a natural immunity booster.
