This is Starwest's nitrogen-flushed double wall silverfoil pack.

Maranta arundinacea is the source of genuine, or West Indies, arrowroot. Thai grown Maranta arundinacea is also of very high qulity and has become a staple in gourmet Thai cooking.

The roots are peeled and then grated in water. The resulting mixture is dried to a powder and purified by several washings. This fine white powder is also called 'arrowroot flour' in the recipes.

Arrowroot, almost pure starch, supplies no vitamins and contains only 0.2 percent protein.

In cookery, it is used as a thickener in soups, sauces, puddings, and desserts. When boiled in water, it yields a transparent, odourless, pleasant-tasting, taste-neutral jelly. Its fine texture allows cooking at lower temperatures and for shorter periods than other starches, making it especially suitable for such egg preparations as custards, which are adversely affected by overcooking.

Its thickening power is about twice that of wheat flour. Arrowroot is absolutely tasteless and becomes clear when cooked. Unlike cornstarch, it doesn't impart a chalky taste when undercooked. It should be mixed with a cold liquid before being heated or added to hot mixtures.

Arrowroot is easily digested and is used in diets requiring bland, low-salt, and low-protein foods.

Arrowroot Biscuits:

http://www.cookierecipe.com/az/ArrowrootBiscuits.asp:

Makes 3 ½ dozen

Ingredients:

¼ cup butter, softened
½ cup white sugar
1 egg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup arrowroot flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Cream butter or margarine and sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla.
2. Stir remaining ingredients together and add. Mix well.
3. Roll 1/8 inch thick on floured surface. Cut into 2 ½ inch rounds. Prick with fork. Grease baking sheet. Bake in 350 degree F (175 degrees C) oven until golden, about 8 to 10 minutes. Allow a bit more baking time if rolled thicker.

Arrowroot Sauce:

http://www.recipesource.com/side-dishes/sauces/00/rec0081.html:

2 tb Arrowroot powder
1½ c cool water
2 tb Tamari soy sauce -- up to 3 tb
1 ea Vegetable bouillon cube -up to 2 cubes -or 1-2 tsp vegetable broth-powder
Cayenne pepper -- to taste
Sea kelp -- to taste
-----OPTIONAL-----
dash of sweetener (to balance flavours)

Mix the arrowroot thoroughly with the water in the saucepan, using a wire whisk. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until thickened. Keep warm over low heat. Serve over hot vegetables, whole grains or stir frys. Keeps up to 7 days in refrigerator or may be frozen.

Glazed Fruit:

http://www.fabulousfoods.com/recipes/dessert/fruit/glazedfruit.html:

This recipe is from the book ''The Ultimate Recipe for Fitness'' by Sheila Cluff

½ C frozen apple juice concentrate 2 C fresh cranberries (optional)
2 tsp. arrowroot
4 C fresh fruit (any combination of peaches, strawberries, kiwis, mangoes, nectarines, blueberries, raspberries and/or papaya)

Cut fruit into bite sized pieces. Whisk arrowroot and apple juice concentrate together in a small saucepan. Cook and stir over low heat to thicken and clear. Toss fruit with glaze just before serving.

For Cranberry Sauce Glaze:
Mix the apple juice, arrowroot and cranberries together. Cook as above until cranberries pop.

Serves 6: 60 calories per serving: 15 gram carb: trace fat (2%)

Grieve's classic 'A Modern Herbal': 'Arrowroot is chiefly valuable as an easily digested, nourishing diet for convalescents, especially in bowel complaints, as it has demulcent properties. In the proportion of a tablespoonful to a pint of water or milk, it should be prepared by being first made into a smooth paste with a little cold milk or water, and then carefully stirred while the boiling milk is added. Lemon-juice, sugar, wine, or aromatics may be added. If thick, it will cool into a jelly that usually suits weaning infants better than other farinaceous foods.'

It is said that the mashed rhizomes are used for application to wounds from poisoned arrows, scorpion and black spider bites, and to arrest gangrene.

The freshly-expressed juice, mixed with water, is said to be a good antidote, taken internally, for vegetable poisons, such as Savanna.

Other Species:
Maranta ramosissima is the M. arundinaceae of the East Indies.

M. allouya and M. nobilis are also West Indian species. The term arrowroot is applied to other starches.

BRAZILIAN ARROWROOT, or Tapioca Meal, is obtained from Manihot utilissima (bitter) and M. palmata (sweet) . It is also called Bahia Rio, or Para-Arrowroot. See MANDIOCA.

TAHITI ARROWROOT is from Tacca oceanica (pinnatifida). It is a favourite article of diet in the tropics, being found in the Sandwich and South Sea Islands, and is said to be the best arrowroot for dysentery.

EAST INDIAN ARROWROOT is from Curcuma augustifolia, or longa.

King's 1898 Dispensatory: 'Arrow-root is nutritive, and is used as an agreeable, non-irritating diet in certain chronic diseases, during convalescence from fevers, in irritations of the alimentary canal, pulmonary organs, or of the urinary apparatus, and is well suited for infants to supply the place of breast-milk, or for a short time after having weaned them.'

'It may be given in the form of jelly, variously seasoned with sugar, lemon-juice, fruit jellies, essences, or aromatics. Potato-starch is sometimes substituted for it, but it is more apt to cause acidity. Arrow-root is superior to every other kind of farinaceous food, except tapioca and tous-les-mois. Its jelly has no peculiar taste, and is less liable to become acid in the stomach, and is generally preferred by young infants to all others, except tapioca. Tous-les-mois makes a stiffer jelly. Two or 3 drachms of arrow-root may be boiled in a pint of water or milk, and seasoned as may be desired, if allowable.'