Corn Process Technology

The specific feature of the corn grain structure is the presence of a large corcule, whose weight is 8…14% grain. The corcule is characterized by high content of the fat, which has good food qualities, vitamin Е and other biologically active substances. An important processing property of the corn grain is the structure of the endosperm, the proportion of the glassy and flour content. The glassy part is in the periphery of the endosperm, while the flour part is in the centre. To process corn and manufacture corn cereal and flour it is required to remove its corcule. There are two techniques of the corcule removal: dry and wet. The dry technique is more economical. Our company has developed degerminator SIMO DS-2 (a machine for dry corcule removal), which enables to split the corn grain into 5-8 parts at a time and remove 95% corcules. The drawback of this removal is in the fact that due to this process the corcule is destroyed and mixed with the corn peripheral parts and bran.

The application of corn hydrothermal treatment is advantageous not only for the treatment during further crushing and polishing but it also facilitates corcule removal and preservation. The corcule is attached to the endosperm with a cementing layer that has no cell structure and consists of protein and pentosans. As a result of humidifying, this layer softens, and binding between it and the endosperm weakens. This treatment is important while using the corcule as the raw material for oil production. The corcule that is rich in fat is excellent raw material for food vegetable oil, which contains a number of unsaturated fatty acids, phospholipids, tocopherols and other biologically active substances. Therefore, it is desirable to remove the corcule from the grain as safely as possible, while endosperm content must be at the minimum in the removed product. Owing to the corn hydrothermal treatment with optimal modes it is possible to achieve the most favourable conditions: the corcule is separated as larger particles and contains less endosperm, which improves oil quality.

This technology is especially necessary for manufacturing corn flakes and sticks, since the shells are easier removed while crushing, and the endosperm is divided into larger parts, necessary for flaking.