Kuakoon Piyachomkwan1,2

1 Cassava and Starch Technology Research Laboratory

National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), Thailand 2 Thai Tapioca Development Institute (TTDI), Bangkok, Thailand

World Tapioca Conference 2015

24 June, 2015

Dusit Thani Hotel, Pattaya, Chonburi, Thailand

Thai Tapioca’s Strategic Roadmaps:

Industrial applications of tapioca starch

- 3rd world root production after Nigeria and Brazil

- Total root production of 25-30 million tons annually

(10% of world production)

- 1st producer and exporter of tapioca-derived products

- Generate upto 1,400 million USD revenue of exported products

Thai tapioca industry

- Total planting area = 7.4 Million Rai

or 1.2 Million hectare

- Mostly grown in North eastern, eastern part

- Root productivity = 4.7 tons /Rai

or 30 tons / hectare

(World average = 12 tons / hectare)

Tapioca production in Thailand

Tapioca is a cash crop of Thai farmers

- Drought tolerance

- Easy to grow with low inputs

- All year round planting/harvesting

- High yield-improved varieties

- High root productivity

- Roots with high quantity/quality of starch

Excellent agronomic characteristics

Beyond the farmer’s cash crop, tapioca is an industrial crop

- Chips

- Pellets

- Starches

Major tapioca products

Export volume (million tons) of Thai tapioca products

Chip

Pellet

Modified starch

Native starch

Export values (million Baht) of Thai tapioca products

Chip

Pellet

Modified starch

Native starch

- Number of processors > 1,000 yards

- Total production of chips 4 - 5 million tons (or 10 M tons of roots)

- Conversion 2.00-2.50 kg fresh roots /1 kg chips

- Consumption Local market (30%, animal feed, ethanol, pellets)

Export market (70%)

Tapioca chips

1. 2.

3. 4.

Chopping into small pieces

Sun-drying on a cement floor

- Produced from dried chips only

- Conversion : 1 kg chip : 1 kg pellet

- Soft pellets vs. Hard pellets

- Export market only for animal feed uses

Tapioca pellets

Grinding chips Extrusion Cooling

Tapioca starch

- > 80 factories registered to Thai Tapioca Trade Association (TTSA)

- Production capacity ≈ 3.5-4.0 million tons per year

- Conversion 4.0 - 4.4 kg fresh roots / 1 kg starch

Typical tapioca starch manufacturing process in Thailand

Fresh roots

Sands & soils removal

Root washing

Dry peel

Wet peel Waste water Stumps

Rasping

Extraction

Separation

Dewatering

Drying

Recycled water

Waste water

Pulp

Tapioca starch

Tapioca starch

Modified starch

Tapioca pearl Pregelatinized starch

Acid thinned starch

Dextrinized starch

Oxidized starch

Crosslinked starch Di-starch phosphate Di-starch adipate

Starch ether Hydroxyalkyl/Cationic starch

Starch ester Acetylated starch Phosphate monoester starch

Native starch Starch hydrolysate

Maltodextrin

Sweeteners Glucose, Dextrose Fructose

Sugar alcohols Sorbitol/Mannitol

Amino acids MSG Lysine

Organic acid Citric acid Lactic acid

Alcohols Ethanol

Industrial applications

Noodles

Sauces Cosmetics

Uses of modified tapioca starches in food and non-food applications

- Maltodextrin

- Sweeteners & derivatives

glucose syrup

fructose syrup

sugar alcohol : sorbitol, mannitol

Starch hydrolysates and fermented products

Starch hydrolysis

Purification/

separation

Novel / Value-added

products

Fermentor

Novel / Value-added products

• Feed& food additives : MSG, lysine

• Packaging: poly (lactic acid) • Energy: Ethanol

Biorefinery/ Biobased industry

Starch hydrolysis

Hydrolysis / Fermentation

Distillation Dehydration Anhydrous ethanol Gasohol

Production process of bioethanol for fuel use

Gasoline

Hydrolysis / Fermentation

Purification Lactic acid Lactide PLA

Production process of polylactic acid (PLA)

Local consumption

Starch factories Small/Medium scale entrepreneur

Pellet companies

(Pelletization)

Traders

Modification/hydrolysis

Tapioca roots

Tapioca starch Tapioca chips

Export market

Export market

Modified starch/ Sweetener Pellets

Ethanol and feed

Farmers

Local consumption

Industrialization and marketing structure of tapioca in Thailand

1. Root production

2. Marketing and trading

3. Policy and management

4. Conversion, process and value added products

5. R & D

Thai Tapioca’s Strategic Roadmaps

Variety diversification Improved processing

technology

Novel / value- added products

Application Commodity & Specialty

R & D

Increased root productivity

- Normal starch

- Amylose-free/waxy starch

- High amylose starch

- High phosphate starch

- Small granule starch

Amylose-free Normal High-amylose

Normal Waxy

Variety diversification of starches

Improved varieties + Cost-effective cultivation practices = High productivity

Increased root productivity

Native, modified, hydrolyzate

- Mechanized process

- Energy- and water- saving process

- Clean technology

- Zero-discharge

- Waste treatment / Reduction

- Environmentally friendly

Improved processing technology

Specific functionality

From Commodity to Specialty starch products

• Convenience with quality

• Healthy eating / Nutrition

• Aging society

• Cost reduction

• Environmental sustainability

Novel / value- added products

- Food modified starch (more than 1 type of modification) - Custom-made

- Health food products

Clean label products (non-GMO, non-chemically food modified starch)

Gluten-free products

Low glycemic food products

- Biomaterial for biomedical applications

Drug delivery system

Wound healing

Tissue engineering scaffolds/ implants

Potential value added products from tapioca

Tapioca flour for gluten-free products

- Gluten is wheat flour protein, also found in barley, rye and triticale

- Some people cannot eat gluten because it will damage their small intestine, called celiac disease.

- At least 1% of total population have celiac disease with a rapid increase in the number of people having celiac disease.

- No cure, only strict adherence to a GLUTEN-FREE DIET

- The market of gluten-free diet has continuously increased and expected to exceed more than 5 billion USD by 2015.

- Bread, cookie, cracker, pasta, cereal

Gliadin (viscous)

+

Glutenin (elastic)

Gluten (viscoelastic)

UNLESS LABELED “GLUTEN -FREE”

Amaranth

Arrowroot

Bean

Buckwheat

Corn

Millet

Potato

Quinoa

Rice

Sorghum

Tapioca / Cassava

Teff

grains and starches can be part of a gluten-free diet:

- Use as staple foods in many countries in various forms

- Mostly produced from sweet type: low cyanide content at the household level

- According to FAO Codex, cyanide content of flour < 10 mg HCN equivalent.kg-1

Cassava flour

Household production of cassava flour

Technology development

Large-scaled production of Low-cyanide cassava flour

(10 mg HCN equivalent.kg-1)

Cassava roots (High cyanide varieties)

Development of low-cyanide cassava flour from high-cyanide varieties

- Gluten free product (high value market): 100% cassava flour

(Under “ Gratitude” FP7 project supported by European Commission)

- Wheat flour substitute (high volume market): Bakery, snack

Application

CONCLUSIONS

- Tapioca serves not only as a staple food in many regions, it also serves as an important raw material for food, non-food and bio-based industry.

- To meet an increasing demand of tapioca for industry use, the sustainable production of tapioca roots with increasing farmer’s income must be achieved by improving root productivity, lower production cost, e.g. soil conservation, farm mechanization.

- As health and wellness continues to influence consumer and market

trends, there is a great opportunities for developing health products from tapioca starch (non-GMO, non-chemically, non-gluten, low GI food) as well as biodegradable materials for biomedical uses.

Thank you for your attention

kuakoon@biotec.or.th