Continuous production of an instant corn flour for snack and tortilla, using a neutral enzymatic precooking

Abstract

Precooked and partially-debranned corn flour is continuously produced by an enzymatic precooking using a commercial blend of xylanase, endoamylase and endoprotease as a processing aid. The low-temperature and neutral-pH precooking with an endoenzyme solution effected a partial bran hydrolysis while avoiding excessive pregelatinization, reduced washing and corn solid loss in wastewater. Moisture content is then stabilized, followed by milling and drying at a high-temperature and short-time to produce a controlled gelatinization and denaturation in the ground kernel, cooling and further drying the dried-ground particle. A fine particle size or flour is separated and recovered from the coarser particle which is also segregated to isolate a partially hydrolysed bran fraction for integral flour or animal feed diet, remilling and sieving the coarser particle to produce an instant corn flour for snack, and admixing the fine particle with lime to obtain a masa flour for tortilla and other corn foods.