Abstract Starch changes in cassava flours made from parenchyma (peeled root) cooked either in steam or in boiling water and stored at 5ºC or −20ºC for 24 h were studied using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction and iodine binding capacity. The storage temperature of cooked parenchyma did not have a significant effect on starch retrogradation. For storage at 5ºC, flour from steam‐cooked parenchyma presented a slightly higher melting enthalpy of retrograded starch and crystallinity compared to that of parenchyma cooked in boiling water. When stored at −20ºC, the cooking procedure had no significant effect on the melting enthalpy of retrograded starch, crystallinity and blue value index ( BVI ). The water content in cooked parenchyma stored at 5ºC influenced the extent of retrogradation. The cooking method and the storage temperature are important parameters that might influence the physicochemical and functional properties of cassava flours.