University of Illinois

Other

Steven R Eckhoff

Vijay Singh

David B Johnston

Edith Oliva Cuevas Rodriguez

Jorge Milan Carrillo

The present invention provides a nixtamalization process wherein corn endosperm fractions, subfractions, or combinations thereof are individually nixtamalized to produce food products. The invention also comprises food products, including masa, instant masa, tortillas, and tortilla-related food products produced by the present invention's methods, including food products that have controllable fat and/or fiber levels.

Nixtamalization process and products produced therefrom

A method for obtaining starch from maize involving soaking maize kernels in water to produce soaked maize kernels, grinding the soaked maize kernels to produce a ground maize slurry, and incubating the ground maize slurry with enzyme (e.g., protease).

Use of enzymes to reduce steep time and SO2 requirements in a maize wet-milling process

A method of recovering corn coarse fiber by flotation, which features the use of a hydrocyclone, or other separating machinery, in which the specific gravity of the slurry contained therein has been increased to approximately 12-14 Baum&eacute; so that the corn coarse fiber is of a lighter density than the remainder of the slurry. Therefore, the corn coarse fiber can be separated from the remainder of the slurry because it floats to the top of the slurry. If the present pericarp recovery process is added to a modified dry-grind ethanol production line, a high value co-product (the pericarp) is added to the other co-products and the end-product of ethanol, which can all be sold, and the economic efficiency of the plant is increased. More specifically, the present invention provides a process for recovering corn coarse fiber including the steps of: soaking corn in water to loosen the attachments of various grain components therein to each other, degerminating the soaked corn to strip the corn coarse fiber and the germ away from the endosperm, recovering the germ, and recovering the corn coarse fiber by flotation.

Growing community of inventors

Mahomet, IL, United States of America

Steven R Eckhoff