In this article we will discuss about the industrial uses of maize.
1. Corn Oil:
It is commercially produced from corn germ isolated by wet milling or dry milling. Crude corn oil is composed of 95 per cent tryglycericles. Minor compounds present in crude oil are removed by refining. The flavour of corn oil is stable during storage and cooking due to presence of natural antioxidant and tocopherol (Vitamin E).
Concentration of oil in the kernel varies from 1.2 to 21.3 per cent. Quality of corn oil is determined by the ratio of unsaturated to saturated fatty acids. Higher proportion of unsaturated fatty acids is always desirable. On an average, corn oil has 60 per cent linoleic, 20 per cent oleic, 18 per cent palmetic and 2 per cent stearic acid.
2. Starch:
Primary product of maize kernel milling is starch. Industrial corn starch contains 0.25-0.30 per cent protein, less than 1.0 per cent minerals and 0.65 per cent fat. It is useful in many industrial applications like unmodified starch, acid modified starch, maltodextins and pyrodextins, oxadised starch, pregelatinised starch, waxy starch etc.
3. Alcohol:
Fermentation industry is dependent on corn, as all microorganisms require carbohydrate as an energy source for growth. Beers and distilled liquors are the leading beverage products with respect to volume production and utilisation of corn in USA. Corn is the major carbohydrate source for distilled liquors like sprits, corn whiskey and bourbon.
Value-Addition:
Value-added products developed using normal and QPM include:
i. Traditional products – Ladoo, halva, kheer, chapatti, sev, mathi, pakorea, and cheela.
ii. Pooped products – popcorn and popped laddu.
iii. Baked products – bread, non khatai and cake.
iv. Extruded products – vermicelli and pasta.
v. Convenience foods – instant idli mix, instant dhokla mix, porridge mix and sprouted chat.
A wide range of products from baby corn have been developed as indicated below:
i. Tradition products – pakoda, cutlet, chat, salad, dry vegetable, kofta, mixed vegetable and raita.
ii. Sweet products – halwa, kheer and burfi.
iii. Preserved products – jam, chutney, pickle, candy and murabba.
iv. Chinese products – soup, Manchurian, baby corn chili, chowmin, sweet and sour vegetable.