Arrowroot Powder (Tapioca Flour)

Herbs: Arrowroot Powder- (Tapioca Flour), organic

Common Name: Arrowroot
Latin Name: Maranta arundinacea
Origin: Thailand

Short Description:

Arrowroot flour is a nutritious food, obtained from the fleshy rootstock of a tropical American plant. Arrowroot powder is easily digested and well-suited for infants and convalescents, and it makes an excellent thickening agent in recipes.

Excerpts from Nourishing Traditions

Arrowroot flour, the only starch with a calcium ash, is a nutritious food obtained from the fleshy root stock of a tropical American plant. It is an easily digested food well fitted for infants and the convalescent.

Arrowroot flour resembles cornstarch in being white, fine and powdery. When heated in water in certain portions, it thickens to form a jelly, an excellent thickening agent. It is also considered more desirable for gravies, sauces and pastries than some of the more common starches and flours. It is used primarily for food in dietetic use, where it enjoys a reputation for smoothness and palatability.

Arrowroot powder was once widely used in baby formulas as a superior carbohydrate, experience having shown it agreed with babies better than any other starch or sugar. We now know the reason: it is the only starch product with a calcium ash. In this regard, the calcium chloride, in the form of calcium found in arrowroot starch, is very important for the maintenance of proper acid and alkali balances in the human body.

Arrowroot only thrives on tidal flats where sea minerals are available. Its known health-building properties may be due to trace minerals from the sea, as well as from the calcium it gets from the sea water. If it is used in ice cream formulas in place of cornstarch, arrowroot imparts a vanilla-like flavor and a smooth texture. Arrowroot as it comes to you is not a refined product; it is simply the dried and powdered root.

From Our Reading and/or Experience...

  • Arrowroot is a food, and thus we keep it in the kitchen. We add it to many food recipes (hot cereals, sauces, gravies, meat dishes, vegetable dishes, stir-fry, baby food and formulas, waffles and pancakes, ice cream, etc.).
  • It's excellent as a thickener that adds nutrition to your recipes, rather than cornstarch which is highly processed.
  • It can be used to benefit anyone: men, women (including before, during or after pregnancy, and nursing) and children.
  • It can be used as often as you would like, and in any way you choose.

Customer Reviews

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Infant Formula
by Melissa on May 21, 2013

Hi, I was wondering if Shoshanna has come up with a recipe for infant formula??? I am getting ready to have a baby in about 6 weeks and wanted to be prepared in case I needed it! I am planning on breastfeeding, but failed with my last baby.... I want to stay away from commercially made formula if at all possible!! Thanks!

    Re: Infant Formula
    by Bulk Herb Store on May 23, 2013

    No she has not, to my knowledge. Sorry!

arrowroot powder
by Leigh Gleeson on Jan 3, 2013

I have used arrowroot powder instead of talcum powder for years to avoid the alleged aluminium in talc...now I am going to start cooking with it as I heard elsewhere it had a beneficial calcium content.

Good replacement
by Kathy on Dec 10, 2009

As a person who is allergic to corn and all of its products, I have used arrowroot for years in place of cornstarch and found it to make an excellent lemon meringue pie, in addition to gravies and sauces. I also mix it in when I make my own baking powder.

Arrowroot saves the Pie!
by Irina from Ohio on Jun 9, 2008

Hello, I just wanted to share how much I love this arrowroot powder. I use it in gravy and it is delicious! It has also saved my pumpkin pie! I accidentally added a whole can of evaporated milk, (which was a total of 12 oz.) when the recipe only asked for 5 oz. My pie filling seemed “runny” and useless. I decided to throw in a couple heaping TBLS. of the arrowroot powder, stirred it up and hoped for the best. It set perfectly and turned out delicious!

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