Use
Starch is reserve carbohydrate usually stored in the seeds, roots or stems of a plant. It is the second largest source of carbohydrates, next only to cellulose. Although starch is widespread in plants, only a few sources are abundant enough to make the extraction commercially feasible. The general sources are arrowroot, barley, corn, maize, potato, rice, sago, sorghum, tapioca and wheat. Arrowroot, barley, potato and wheat are commercial sources of starch, available as loosely packed granules of varying shapes and sizes.
Starch is a versatile excipient used primarily in oral solid-dosage formulations where it is utilized as a binder, diluent, and disintegrant.
As a diluent, starch is used for the preparation of standardized triturates of colorants, potent drugs, and herbal extracts, facilitating subsequent mixing or blending processes in manufacturing operations. Starch is also used in dry-filled capsule formulations for volume adjustment of the fill matrix, and to improve powder flow, especially when using dried starches. Starch quantities of 3–10% w/w can act as an antiadherent and lubricant in tableting and capsule filling.