Fava Bean Starch
Fava bean starch is the starch fraction separated from the seed of the faba or broad bean, Vicia faba, and recovered alongside protein and fibre during the wet or dry fractionation of the bean. Like other pulse starches it is high in amylose, typically 30 to 40 percent against about 25 percent for maize, and that composition decides how it behaves.
The granules are large and oval to kidney shaped, similar in size to potato starch granules but without the bound phosphate that makes potato starch swell so violently. Gelatinisation begins in the region of 60 to 70 degrees Celsius and the granule swells only moderately, so peak viscosity is lower than that of a root starch but the cooked paste is far more resistant to breakdown under continued heating and shear. On cooling the abundant amylose realigns quickly and the paste sets to a firm, opaque, sliceable gel that holds its shape.
Two further properties follow from the high amylose content. The starch forms strong, coherent films, which is why pulse starches are the traditional base for glass noodles and for edible films. And it resists digestion better than cereal starches, giving a substantial resistant starch fraction, particularly after cooking and cooling has allowed retrogradation to proceed. Fava bean starch is a white to pale cream free flowing powder with a faint beany note that carries through into strongly flavoured applications and must be washed down for delicate ones.
We source bulk Fava Bean Starch from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturer is in Shandong. A smaller requirement can ship in a combined container with other ingredients.
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- Function
- Texturisers
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | White to pale cream free flowing powder, free of foreign matter |
| Odour and taste | Neutral, faint characteristic bean note, no off odour |
| Starch content, dry basis | 85.0 percent minimum |
| Amylose content | 30 to 40 percent of total starch |
| Moisture | 14.0 percent maximum |
| Protein, nitrogen times 6.25, dry basis | 0.8 percent maximum |
| Fat | 0.3 percent maximum |
| Ash, dry basis | 0.5 percent maximum |
| Crude fibre | 0.5 percent maximum |
| pH, 10 percent slurry | 5.5 to 7.5 |
| Whiteness | 88 minimum |
| Particle size, through 100 mesh | 99 percent minimum |
| Lead | 0.5 mg/kg maximum |
| Arsenic | 0.5 mg/kg maximum |
| Total plate count | 10000 cfu/g maximum |
| Yeast and mould | 500 cfu/g maximum |
| E. coli | Absent in 1 g |
| Salmonella | Absent in 25 g |
Common Markets Grades
Native fava bean starch is the article traded, specified on starch content, moisture, residual protein, whiteness and viscosity. Residual protein is what separates one grade from another in practice, because carried over faba protein is what brings the beany flavour and the darker colour, and mills compete on how far they can wash it down. A low protein, high whiteness grade is made for noodle and light coloured applications and a standard grade for extrusion, meat and feed use.
The starch is a co product of faba protein manufacture, so its availability follows the protein market rather than the starch market, and specifications vary more between suppliers than they do for commodity maize or tapioca starch. Modified grades are produced from the same base where volumes justify it, including pregelatinised drum dried starch for cold water use and acid thinned starch for confectionery gels. Organic certified material is traded where identity preserved faba beans are available. High amylose selections from particular cultivars are offered where the resistant starch fraction is the reason for buying.
Applications
- Glass noodles and vermicelli, where the high amylose content sets the firm, springy, non sticky strand that defines the product
- Meat analogues and plant based patties, binding the matrix and holding water through cooking, often alongside faba protein from the same fractionation
- Sausage and processed meat, as a binder that gels on cooking and limits the liquid that weeps out in the pack
- Batters and coatings for fried foods, where the amylose retrogrades quickly and holds the crust crisp
- Gummies and jelly confectionery, as the starch gelling agent in gelatine free formulations
- Gluten free baking, supplying structure and crumb set where there is no gluten network
- Resistant starch fortification in bread, pasta and snacks, raising fibre content
- Soups and sauces that must set firmly rather than remain fluid on cooling
- Edible films and biodegradable packaging, using the film forming strength of amylose
China Manufacturers of Fava Bean Starch
Top Fava Bean Starch manufacturers in China.
Company names and logos are the property of the manufacturers themselves. They are listed here because our own directory records them as producing this ingredient. A listing is not an endorsement by them, and we do not represent them or speak on their behalf.
Regulatory Status
Native fava bean starch is a food, not a food additive. In the United States it is a food ingredient labelled as faba bean starch or broad bean starch and is not the subject of a food additive regulation, with the identity and purity criteria of the Food Chemicals Codex starch monograph applying. In the European Union native starches carry no E number and are regulated as foods, with only chemically modified starches falling into the additives framework. Codex maintains a general standard covering the composition and quality of edible starches.
Two points are specific to this raw material. Faba beans contain the pyrimidine glycosides vicine and convicine, which can trigger haemolytic anaemia in people with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency, a condition known as favism; the glycosides are water soluble and concentrate in the protein and soluble fractions rather than in the washed starch, but low vicine cultivars and thorough washing are used to manage the risk. Separately, pulses are not among the major allergens requiring mandatory declaration in the United States or the European Union, although legume allergy is recognised and some markets apply voluntary or precautionary labelling. Where organic status is claimed, the importing market's organic certification framework applies.
Manufacturing Process
Dehulled faba beans are wet milled and slurried in water, in what is a fractionation of the whole seed into protein, starch and fibre rather than a starch extraction as such. The slurry passes through decanter centrifuges and hydrocyclones that use the density difference between the dense starch granules and the lighter protein and fibre. The protein stream is drawn off for concentrate or isolate manufacture, the hull and fibre fraction is separated on sieve bends, and the starch settles as the heavy phase.
The crude starch is washed in a countercurrent hydrocyclone battery, each stage using fresh water to displace more of the soluble protein, phytate, tannin and the vicine and convicine glycosides characteristic of faba beans, until residual protein and off flavour are brought down to the target. The washed starch milk is dewatered on a vacuum drum filter or peeler centrifuge to a cake near 60 percent solids, then dried in a flash or ring drier to about 12 to 14 percent moisture with a residence time short enough that no granule gelatinises. The dried powder is cooled, sieved to break agglomerates, passed over a magnet and metal detector and packed. A pregelatinised grade is made instead by cooking the washed starch milk and drying it on a heated drum, then milling the resulting sheet.
