An environmentalist would have documented the energy it took to dispose of the bananas and its effect on the environment. But Roy Whistler saw starch. Within two years Whistler and his colleagues at Purdue University had developed a process and a patent for banana starch. The new starch has the same thickening qualities as potato or tapioca starch, but is cheaper. A factory in Costa Rico to produce the starch already is operational.
Whistler explains the swiftness of the whole process in three words.
I know starch. His colleagues use more words. Whistler, who received a Ph.D. from ISU in 1938, has been one of the most respected leaders in carbohydrate research for more than half a century. Although Whistler applied his research to many areas, from food production to construction materials, his use of plant carbohydrates in the production of medicines currently is receiving attention. For example, Whistler and his co-workers have discovered that simple sugar cane, when caramelized, reduces colic in babies.