Consumption of potato starch has decreased in recent years. To alter this trend, there is an urgent need to develop value-added products that rely on potato starch as a main ingredient. The objective of this study was to research a process by which insulators can be produced from potato starch.

Frequent extruder jamming became a problem when working with potato starch flour. Although reducing the L/D value was effective in reducing jamming, the resultant processing was not stable. Therefore, additives were experimented with in an attempt to modify the potato starch's physical characteristics. Rice bran and rice bran wax additives successfully stabilized the processing but would not allow for increased processing pressures and failed to deliver good puffing. The addition of sodium hydrogen carbonate produced good puffing and a product exhibiting small, fine bubbles. The addition of polyvinyl alcohol also resulted in a product with good elasticity and puffing with fine bubbles. However, the processing was not stable.

After considering the conditions under which extruder jamming occurred, an experiment was conducted in which raw material was first subjected to granulation on a granulater or with an extruder without a die. Granules of Φ: 1mm were produced by the granulater and Φ: 5mm in the case of the extruder. Though not stable, both materials produced satisfactory puffing. It was also noted that particularly outstanding elasticity was achieved by the material granulated with the extruder.