Starch – A Potential Biomaterial for Biomedical Applications

The unique physicochemical and functional characteristics of starches isolated from different botanical sources such as corn, potato, rice and wheat make them useful for a wide variety of biomedical and pharmaceutical applications. Starch properties such as swelling power, solubility, gelatinization, rheological characteristics, mechanical behaviour and enzymatic digestibility are of utmost importance while selecting starch source for distinctive applications such as bone fixation and replacement. Starches can also be used as carriers for the controlled release of drugs and other bioactive agents. The chemically modified starches with more reactive sites to carry biologically active compounds are useful biocompatible carriers, which can easily be metabolized in the human body. This chapter reviews the physico-chemical, morphological and thermal characteristics of different starches that may be of importance during their use in specific biomedical and pharmaceutical applications