Arrowroot, or obedience plant, (Maranta arundinacea) is a large perennial herb of genus Maranta found in rainforest habitats. Arrowroot is also the name for the easy-to-digest starch from the rhizomes (rootstock) of West Indian arrowroot. This plant should not be confused with Sagittaria species sometimes called "arrowhead" and used as a root vegetable. Image File history File linksMetadata Forraçao2. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms (as opposed to folk taxonomy). ... Divisions Land plants (embryophytes) Non-vascular plants (bryophytes) Marchantiophyta - liverworts Anthocerotophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses Vascular plants (tracheophytes) Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongues Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta - flowering plants Adiantum pedatum (a fern... Divisions Non-seed-bearing plants Equisetophyta Lycopodiophyta Psilotophyta Pteridophyta Superdivision Spermatophyta Pinophyta Cycadophyta Ginkgophyta Gnetophyta Magnoliophyta The vascular plants are those plants that have specialized cells for conducting water and sap within their tissues, including the flowering plants, conifers and other gymnosperms, but not mosses, algae, and the like (nonvascular... Classes Magnoliopsida - Dicots Liliopsida - Monocots The flowering plants (also angiosperms or Magnoliophyta) are one of the major groups of modern plants, comprising those that produce seeds in specialized reproductive organs called flowers, where the ovulary or carpel is enclosed. ... Liliopsida is the botanical name for a class. ... Families Cannaceae Costaceae Heliconiaceae Lowiaceae Marantaceae Musaceae Strelitziaceae Zingiberaceae The Zingiberales are an order of monocots, including familiar plants like bananas and ginger. ... Families see text The Zingiberales are an order of flowering plants that includes many familiar plants like ginger, cardamom, turmeric, myoga, and also banana and arrowroot. ... Genus Afrocalathea Ataenidia Calathea Cominsia Ctenanthe Donax Halopegia Haumania Hylaeanthe Hypselodelphys Ischnosiphon Koernickanthe Maranta Marantochloa Megaphrynium Monophrynium Monophyllanthe Monotagma Myrosma Phacelophrynium Phrynium Pleiostachya Sanblasia Saranthe Sarcophrynium Schumannianthus Stachyphrynium Stromanthe Thalia Thaumatococcus Thymocarpus Trachyphrynium The Marantaceae are a family of monocot flowering plants. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal method of naming species. ... Carolus Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement as , (May 23, 1707 – January 10, 1778), was a Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist[1] who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of nomenclature. ... A Red Valerian, a perennial plant. ... A herb (see also pronunciation differences) is a plant grown for culinary, medicinal, or in some cases even spiritual value. ... This article is about the rainforest in general. ... Starch is a complex carbohydrate which is insoluble in water, it is used by plants as a way to store excess glucose. ... Ginger rhizome In botany, a rhizome is a usually-underground, horizontal stem of a plant that often sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. ... Species S. latifolia S. sagittifolia and many others Sagitarria is a genus of aquatic plants whose members go by a variety of common names, including arrowhead, duck potato, katniss, kuwai, swan potato, tule potato and wapatoo. ... Root vegetables are underground plant parts used as vegetables. ...

The plant is naturalized in Florida, but it is chiefly cultivated in the West Indies (Jamaica and St. Vincent), Australia, Southeast Asia, and South Africa. Because of this, Napoleon supposedly said the real reason for the British love of arrowroot was to support their colonies. Official language(s) English Capital Tallahassee Largest city Jacksonville Area  Ranked 22nd  - Total 65,794 sq mi (170,451 km²)  - Width 162 miles (260 km)  - Length 497 miles (800 km)  - % water 17. ... The Caribbean or the West Indies is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. ... Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is an independent sovereign state of the Caribbean, part of the Commonwealth of Nations. ... Location of Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is a subregion of Asia. ...

Cultivation and Preparation

The roots are dug when they are about a year old. When good, they contain about 23% starch. They are first washed, then cleaned of the paper-like 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 mucilaginous starch allowed to settle at the bottom as an insoluble powder. This powder, dried in the sun or in drying houses, is the "arrow-root" of commerce and it is at once packed for market in air-tight cans, packages or cases. Starch is a complex carbohydrate which is insoluble in water, it is used by plants as a way to store excess glucose. ... // Look up scale in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A representation of the 3D structure of myoglobin, showing coloured alpha helices. ... Mucilage is a thick gluey substance, often produced by plants. ...

Arrow-root 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—in contradistinction to 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. Binomial name Manihot esculenta Crantz The cassava or manioc (Manihot esculenta) is a woody shrub of the Euphorbiaceae (spurge family) that is extensively cultivated as an annual crop in tropical and subtropical regions for its edible starchy tuberous root, a major source of carbohydrate. ... Binomial name Pueraria lobata (Willd. ...

Arrow-root is used as an article of diet in the form of biscuits, puddings, jellies, cakes, etc., and also with 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. A biscuit is a small baked bread or cake. ... Christmas pudding Dessert pudding In many dialects of Commonwealth English, pudding is another name for Dessert. ... For other uses, see Jelly (disambiguation). ... A birthday cake decorated with fruit, shaved chocolate, and candles. ... Bovril, formerly a beef extract, now is the trademarked name of a thick, salty yeast extract, sold in a distinctive, bulbous jar. ... Broth is a liquid in which meat, fish, cereal grains, or vegetables have been simmered and strained out. ...

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. World map showing the Americas The Americas are the lands of the Western hemisphere consisting of the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions. ... The term Arawak (from aru, the Lokono word for cassava flour), was used to designate the friendly Amerindians encountered by the Spanish in the Caribbean. ...

In the early days of carbonless forms, 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. Carbonless copy paper or NCR paper is an alternative to carbon paper. ... Piece of paper Paper is a thin, flat material produced by the compression of fibres. ...

External links

• Maranta Image

References

• This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 edition of The Grocer's Encyclopedia.