KENYA STANDARD  DKS 3005 :2024 
ICS 67.040 
First Edition  
  
 © KEBS 2024  
 Arrow root Flour  — Specification    
 
  
 
 
KENYA STANDARD  DKS  3005 :2024 
ICS 67.040 
First  Edition  
  
© KEBS 2024 – All rights reserved  ii 
  TECHNICAL COMMITTEE REPRESENTATION  
The following organizations were represented on the Technical Committee:  
Ministry of Agriculture  
Government Chemist's Department  
Kenyatta  National hospital  
Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute (KIRDI)  
Horticultural Crops Development Authority  
Kenya Agriculture and Livestoc k Research Organization (KARLO)  
Kenya Institute of Food Science and Technology  
University of Nairobi  
Samwa natural foods  
International Potato Centre  
Kenya Bureau of Standards — Secretariat  
REVISION  OF KENYA STANDARDS  
In order to keep abreast of progress in industry, Kenya Standards shall be regularly reviewed.  Suggestions for improvements to 
published standards, addressed to the Managing Director, Kenya Bureau of Standards, are welcome.  
© Kenya Bureau of Standards, 2024  
Copyright. Users are reminded that by virtue of Section 25 of the Copyright Act, Cap. 130 of 2001 of the Laws of Kenya, copyr ight subsists in all Kenya Standards and 
except as provided under Section 25 of this Act, no Kenya Standard produced by Kenya Burea u of Standards may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system in any form 
or transmitted by any means without prior permission in writing from the Managing Director.   KENYA STANDARD  DKS  3005 :2024 
ICS 67.040 
First  Edition  
  
© KEBS 2024 – All rights reserved  iii 
  Arrow root Flour  — Specification   
 
 
Kenya Bureau of Standards, Popo Road, Off Mombasa Road,  
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KENYA STANDARD  DKS  3005 :2024 
ICS 67.040 
First  Edition  
  
© KEBS 2024 – All rights reserved  iv 
  Foreword  
This Kenya Standard was prepared by the Tubers and Tuber Products Technical Committee under the guidance 
of the Standards Projects Committee, and it is in accordance with the procedures of the Kenya Bureau of 
Standards  
Arrowroot flour, is a powder  extracted from the rhizomes (rootstock) or underground stems of the arrowroot plant 
(Maranta arundinacea) , commonly used as a thickening agent in cooking and baking.  
Arrowroot flour has been gaining popularity in recent years . As more people adopt gluten -free diets due to celiac 
disease, gluten sensitivities, or personal preferences, the demand for gluten -free alternatives has increased. 
Arrowroot flour is naturally gluten -free, making it a valuable ingredient for those who need or choose to avoid 
gluten.  
During the preparation of this standard, reference was made to the following document:  
IS 1006(1984):  Specification for arrow root starch  
Acknowledgement is hereby made for the assistance derived from this source  
 DKS  3005 : 2023  
© KEBS 2024 – All rights reserved  v 
   
  DKS  3005 : 2023  
© KEBS 2024 – All rights reserved  vi 
      DKS 3005 :2023                                                                                        
© KEBS 2023  – All rights reserved   2 
 Arrow root Flour  — Specification  
1 Scope  
This Draft Kenya  standard prescribes the requirements and methods of sampling and test for arrowroot  flour, 
which is derived from the rhizomes (rootstocks) of the tropical plant Maranta arundinacea.   
2 Normative references  
The following referenced documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content 
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated 
references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.  
AOAC 2013.06  Determination of Arsenic, Cadmium, Mercury, and Lead in Foods by Pressure Digestion and 
Inductively Coupled Plasma/Mass Spectrometry  
CXS 192, General Standard for food additives  
KS 2842 , Fresh arrowroot (Taro) -Specification.  
KS EAS 38, General standard for the labelling of pre -packaged foods  
KS EAS 39, Hygiene in the food and drink manufacturing industry — Code of practice  
KS EAS 82, Milled cereal products — Methods of test (General methods)  
KS ISO 712, Cereals,  and cereal products — Determination of moisture content — Routine reference method  
KS ISO 5498, Agricultural food products — Determination of crude fibre content — General method  
KS ISO 6888 -1Microbiology of the food chain, Horizontal method for the enumeration of coagulase -positive 
staphylococci (Staphylococcus aureus and other species)  Part 1: Method using Baird -Parker agar medium,  
KS ISO 6579 -1, Microbiology of the food chain, Horizontal method for the detection, enumeration and serotyping 
of Salmonella. Part 1: Detection of Salmonella spp.  
KS ISO 7251, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the detection and  
enumeration of presumptive Escherichia coli — Most probable number technique  
KS ISO 21527 , ISO 21527 -1, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs, Horizontal method for the 
enumeration of yeasts and moulds Part  1: Colony count technique in products with water activity greater than 
0,95 
KS ISO 13690, Cereals, pulses and milled cereal products - Sampling of static batches  
 
     DKS 3005 :2023                                                                                        
 
© KEBS 2024 – All rights reserved  iii 
  3 Terms and definitions  
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.  
3.1 
 arrow root flour  
 The powdered form of the rhizomes of Maranta arundinacea .  
3.2 
 food grade material  
packaging material, made of substances which are safe and suitable for the intended use, and which will not 
impart any toxic substance or undesirable odour  or flavour  to the product . 
3.3  
extraneous matter  
organic matter of arrow root origin other than arrow root flour  
3.4  
foreign matter  
any undesirable material visible with naked eye in arrow root  flour  
3.5  
practically free  
without defects in excess of those that can be expected to result from and  be consistent with good cultural   
and handling practices employed in the production and marketing of arrow root flour 
 
4 Requirements  
4.1 General requirements  
4.1.1 Arrow  root flour shall be processed from fresh arrow root s complying with KS 2842  
4.1.2  Arrow root flour shall be:  
a) practically free from extraneous matter.   
b) Odourless       DKS 3005 :2023                                                                                        
 
© KEBS 2024 – All rights reserved  iv 
  c) free from foreign matter  and  
e) have colour  characteristic of the variety  
4.2 Specific requirements   
Arrow root flour shall conform to the composition requirements in Table 1 below.  
                                         Table 1 Compositional requirements  for arrow root flour  
S. N Parameter  Requirement  Test method  
i)  Moisture content, % by mass on 
dry matter basis, max.  12.0 KS ISO 712 
ii) Starch content, % by mass on 
dry matter basis, min.  60.0 KS ISO 10520  
iii) Acid insoluble ash % by mass 
on dry matter basis, max  0.35 KS EAS 82 
iv) Crude Fibre content % by mass 
max on dry matter basis  2.0 KS ISO 5498  
 
4.3 Particle  size 
Not less than 90 % shall pass through a 0.60 mm sieve for fine flour , and not less than 90 % shall pass  
through a 1.20 mm sieve for coarse flour. Testing for particle size shall be done in accordance with KS EAS 82.   
5.  Food additives  
Food additives may be used in the preparation of arrow root flour  in accordance with CXS 19 2 
6. Contaminants  
6.1 Pesticide residues  
Arrow root flour shall conform to maximum residue limits for pesticide residues established by the Codex 
Alimentarius Commission for this commodity .  
6.2 Heavy metals  
Limits of heavy metal shall comply with maximum levels set in Table 2 when tested in accordance with the test 
methods prescribed therein.      DKS 3005 :2023                                                                                        
 
© KEBS 2024 – All rights reserved  v 
   
Table  2 - Heavy metal limits for arrowroot  flour  
S/N Heavy metal  Max. limit,  
mg/kg  Test method  
i) Lead (pb)  0.1 AOAC 2013.06  
ii) Cadmium (cd)  0.1 
 
7 Hygiene  
Arrow root flour shall be prepared and handled in a hygienic manner in accordance with  KS EAS 39 and shall 
conform to microbiological limits specified in Table 3.  
                                               Table 3 — Microbiological limits for arrow root flour  
SL No.  Micro -organism(s)  Requirement  Test method  
i) Escherichia coli, cfu/g, 
max.  Absent  KS ISO 7251  
ii) Salmonella, 25g, max.  absent  KS ISO 6579 -1 
iii) Yeasts and moulds, cfu/g, 
max.  103 KS ISO 21527 -1 
iv)  Staphylococcus  aureas, 
cfu/g, max.  <10 KS ISO 6888 -1 
8 Packaging  
Arrow root flour shall be packaged in food grade material which will safeguard the hygienic, nutritional, 
technological,  and organoleptic qualities of the product.  
9 Labelling  
9.1 In addition to the requirements of KS EAS 38, the following specific labelling requirements shall apply and 
shall be legibly and indelibly marked:  
a) common name of the product ‘Arrow root flour’.  
b) name, and physical address of the manufacturer/ distributor and /or trade name/ brand name.   
c) date of manufacture.       DKS 3005 :2023                                                                                        
 
© KEBS 2024 – All rights reserved  vi 
  d) lot identification.   
e) expiry date.  
f) country of origin.   
g) the net weight in metric units.   
h) the statement ‘Human Food’ shall appear on the package.   
i) storage instructions; and  
j) instructions on disposal of used package.  
10 Sampling  
Sampling of arrow root flour shall be done in accordance with KS ISO 13690