Cornflour, cornstarch, maize starch, or corn starch is the starch derived from corn (maize) grain. The starch is obtained from the endosperm of the kernel. Corn starch is a common food ingredient, often used to thicken sauces or soups, and to make corn syrup and other sugars. Corn starch is versatile, easily modified, and finds many uses in industry such as adhesives, in paper products, as an anti-sticking agent, and textile manufacturing. It has medical uses as well, such as to supply glucose for people with glycogen storage disease.
Corn starch powder
Corn starch mixed in water
Advertisement for a Cornflour manufacturer, 1894
Advertisement by the US Food Administration, 1918, indicating corn starch as "wholesome" and "nutritious"
Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of numerous glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by most green plants for energy storage. Worldwide, it is the most common carbohydrate in human diets, and is contained in large amounts in staple foods such as wheat, potatoes, maize (corn), rice, and cassava (manioc).
Starch
Potato starch granules in cells of the potato
Starch in endosperm in embryonic phase of maize seed
Glucose syrup