Arrowroot Tincture & Alcohol-Free Extract

Arrowroot (Maranta arundinacea) is a perennial herb of the prayer-plant family, Marantaceae, native to the rainforests of tropical America from Mexico and the Caribbean to Brazil, and grown commercially on St. Vincent in the West Indies, the island that still supplies most of the world. It grows 1 to 2 meters with slender reed-like stems, long-stalked, lance-shaped, glossy green leaves, and small paired white flowers. Below ground it forms fleshy, jointed, cylindrical rhizomes 20 to 45 centimeters long covered in papery scales. These rhizomes are grated, washed, and dried to give arrowroot starch, a fine, neutral-tasting, clear-setting thickener for sauces and biscuits. We extract the powdered root.