ARROW, more properly ARREE, ΡΟΟΤ, is the name given to the farina obtained from two species of Scytaminean plants, Maranta arundinacea, and M. indica; the former coming to us from the warmer regions of the New World, the other from the East Indies. It is largely used as a food for infants, and for persons with delicate stomachs, or subject to diarrhoea. It is a pure starch, soluble in cold water, and forms a viscid, clear solution with warm water. With milk it forms an excellent pudding.
The quantity of arrowroot imported to Britain in 1852, from British possessions, was 364 cwt. 3 qr. 18 lb.; from foreign countries, 736 cwt. 3 qr. 4 lb. Till 1853 there was a duty of 6d. per cwt. on the former, and 2s. 6d. on the latter, now reduced to the uniform rate of 4½d.