What's the difference between Tapioca starch, cassava flour, corn starch, wheat starch and glutinous rice flour

Tapioca balls
   • Tapioca balls, 3 flavors, taro, sweet...  
Tapioca honey comb cake
   • The easiest way to make Honey comb ta...  
What's the difference between Mochiko sweet rice flour, glutinous rice flour and white rice flour?
   • What's the difference between Mochiko...  
Purple sweet potato mochi stuffed buns
   • Purple sweet potato mochi stuffed bun...  

Tapioca
Tapioca is a starch that derives from the cassava root. This starch is extracted through a process of washing and pulping. Once enough wet pulp has been gathered, it is then squeezed to extract the starchy liquid. This cassava starch is a dietary staple in various countries in Africa, Asia and South America.
Tapioca starch is an essential ingredient in gluten free baking and a favorite amongst those following a paleo diet. Naturally gluten free, tapioca flour can serve as a wheat substitute in a variety of gluten free recipes.
Because this cassava starch is both odorless and tasteless, it makes it easy to add to any recipe (savory or sweet) without changing the flavor of the recipe itself. When added to baked goods, tapioca starch helps the ingredients properly bind together.

Cassava flour
on the other hand, uses a significantly different method. When making cassava flour, the whole root of the cassava plant is used. To make this flour, the root is peeled, dried, and ground. Because the entire root is used, cassava has much more dietary fiber than tapioca flour, which creates a different result when adding to recipes.
While tapioca flour and cassava flour are both derived from the same plant, they offer several different benefits. Cassava flour, made from the entire cassava root, is dried and ground to produce the gluten free flour we use in many of our baked goods. Because it is made from the whole root, cassava flour contains more fiber than tapioca starch.
to make tapioca starch, a different extraction process is followed. This process consists only of the starch in the cassava root, not the root itself. This produces a starchy substance, rather than one that mimics a flour. Cassava flour is often deemed as being the most similar gluten free flour to wheat flour. Though the cassava flour has a smooth flavor, it does have a flavor that separates it from many of the starches on this list.


Cornstarch,
also known as corn flour, is a common starch and used in many kitchens. Like other starches, cornstarch is commonly used as a thickening agent and works to thicken dishes to the desired texture. A white powdery substance, this starch isn't just used for culinary purposes. Cornstarch can also be used for household purposes like soap making! Cornstarch is also used as an anti-caking agent and added to packaged goods like shredded cheese. Additionally, cornstarch is used in the making of simple sugars such as corn syrup.
Despite these differences, both cornstarch and tapioca flour work well when thickening liquids. If you're substituting tapioca starch with cornstarch as a thickening agent in a recipe, the good news is that it will work! However, when doing so, you'll want to add the cornstarch to the recipe differently than you would tapioca starch. Generally, when a dish calls for tapioca flour, they'll suggest adding this starch at the end of the recipe to prevent the molecules in the starch from breaking down. Cornstarch, on the other hand, stands up well to high temperatures and can be added in at the beginning of a recipe.
One other difference to note when swapping tapioca flour for cornstarch is how the result will look. Tapioca flour often provides a glossy final product, whereas cornstarch results in more of a matte finish. In most recipes, these two starches can be used interchangeably. Yet, you'll want to be careful of the differences listed and only swap in cornstarch if tapioca flour is not readily available to you.

Sweet rice flour, or glutinous rice flour,
is another gluten free tapioca starch substitute. Made from short-grain glutinous rice or "sticky rice," it works well in recipes as a thickening and binding agent. When heated, this flour is very sticky, and it's most commonly used to help bind, moisten and sweeten the ingredients in gluten free baked goods. The high starch content of sweet rice flour helps the proteins in flour bind together to mimic the elasticity of gluten. While substituting glutinous rice flour for tapioca starch is not a perfect match, it will help provide a similar chewy and sticky consistency. It's important to note that sweet rice flour is a raw flour. When using this flour, it must be thoroughly cooked before eating and cannot be eaten raw.