What is tapioca and is it worth eating

What is Tapioca

This is the starch that is receivedW.S.Ratnayake, D.S. Jackson. Starch | Sources and Processing / Encyclopedia of Food Sciences and Nutrition (Second Edition) from cassava tubers. The plant can be found in the equatorial countries of Africa, South America and Asia.

The roots can be sweet or bitter. Both those and others contain dangerous for humans cyanide hydrogen. But in the first, there is very little of it, so they are good for food. And the latter are used in industry.

Tapioca is produced in the form of white flour, flakes or small balls (pearls).

What is tapioca used for?

Prepared from edible rootsWhat Is Tapioca and What Is It Good For? / Health Line:

• baked goods, mainly bread and tortillas;
• puddings and other desserts;
• udon noodles;
• tea.

Tapioca is also used as a thickener for soups, sauces, gravy, as it is inexpensive and has a neutral taste. In burgers and nuggets, starch is added as a binding agent to improve their texture.

Why tapioca is useful

Cassava does not apply9 Amazing Tapioca Benefits / Organic Information Services to cereal plants, it is a spurge from the family Euphorbiaceae. This means there is no gluten in the starch from the tubers. Therefore, tapioca products can be eaten by people with celiac disease, or congenital gluten intolerance.

Tapioca is also very high in calories.Tapioca, pearl, dry / FoodData Central: There are 358 kcal per 100 g of dry pearls. This is useful for those who need dial the weight. It is enough to include tapioca products in the diet.

Can tapioca harm

It cannot be called a complete food. Tapioca containsTapioca, pearl, dry / FoodData Central practically some carbohydrates and very little protein and fat, fiber and vitamins. So starch has a poorer nutritional value than cereal flour. And also, as we wrote above, tapioca is very high in calories. Therefore, people with redundant body weight or prone to obesity, it is better to eat meals from it as little as possible.

Scientists have also found that people with latex allergies may experienceM. Ibero, M. J. Castillo, F. Pineda. Allergy to cassava: a new allergenic food with cross-reactivity to latex / Journal of investigational allergology & clinical immunology cross-reaction to cassava starch, because the two products have similar protein allergens in structure.