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( Arrowroot)
Arrowroot, or obedience plant (Maranta arundinacea), is a large perennial herb of genus Maranta found in rainforest habitats. Arrowroot is also the name of the edible starch from the rhizomes (rootstock) of West Indian arrowroot. The plant is naturalized in Florida, but it is chiefly cultivated in the West Indies (Jamaica and St. Vincent), Australia, Southeast Asia, and South and East Africa. Because of this, Napoleon supposedly said the real reason for the British love of arrowroot was to support their colonies. The term arrowroot sometimes is used to refer to any starch, not specifically arrowroot starch. In particular, Florida arrowroot was a commercial starch derived from Zamia pumila, harvested from the wild in Florida. Most starch sold today as arrowroot actually is tapioca.[citation needed] Kudzu flour has also been described as arrowroot.[citation needed] Arrowroot tubers 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 starch, which is insoluble, is allowed to settle at the bottom. The wet starch is dried in the sun or in a drying house. The result is a powder, the "arrowroot" of commerce, and it is at once packed for market in air-tight cans, packages or cases.
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