Among the industrial materials, starch is one of the cheapest and most cost-effective. In addition to being a major food item, it is currently used industrially as coatings and sizing in paper, textiles and carpets, as binders and adhesives, as absorbents, and as encapsulants. In the US the starch used is often obtained from com or potato; in Europe and elsewhere it is commonly obtained from wheat and is usually found as a creamy white hygroscopic powder. A low molecular weight analog, maltodextrin, is a moderately sweet polysaccharide used as a food additive. Maltodextrin is easily digestible and absorbed into the body as rapidly as glucose.
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