Production of bio-based fiber gums from the waste streams resulting from the commercial processing of corn bran and oat hulls

Authors: Yadav, Madhav; Hicks, Kevin; Johnston, David; Hotchkiss, Arland; Chau, Hoa - Rose; HANAH, KYLE - Z-Trim Holdings, Inc

Submitted to: Food Hydrocolloids
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/12/2015
Publication Date: 2/12/2015
Publication URL: http://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/60933
Citation: Yadav, M.P., Hicks, K.B., Johnston, D., Hotchkiss, A.T., Chau, H.K., Hanah, K. 2015. Production of bio-based fiber gums from the waste streams resulting from the commercial processing of corn bran and oat hulls. Food Hydrocolloids Journal. DOI: 10.1016/j.foodhy.2015.02.017.

Interpretive Summary: The need to increase the value of corn bran and oat hulls prompted us to develop a valuable product from their processing by-products. The liquid by-products obtained by their processing to make a zero calorie food ingredient, were simply evaporated, concentrated and dried to make valuable products called “Bio-Fiber Gums (BFGs)”. We found these BFGs are a good flavor stabilizers, binding agent for petroleum coke pellets and briquettes, antioxidant and soluble dietary fiber. They have a great potential for both food and non-food applications. These finding will increase the value of corn and oat milling by-products benefiting U.S. corn and oat processors and farmers. It will also benefit zero calorie food product manufacturers for converting their by-product into valuable new products. In addition, it will benefit U.S. consumer and the U. S. economy since home grown BFG can substitute for imported gum arabic for flavor stabilization.

Technical Abstract: The U.S. food and non-food industries would benefit from the development of a domestically produced crude, semi-pure and pure bio-based fiber gum from corn bran and oat hulls processing waste streams. When corn bran and oat hulls are processed to produce a commercial cellulose enriched fiber gel, the process also generates an alkaline waste stream containing many valuable and functional components. In this study, the corn bran and oat hulls processing waste streams were concentrated and drum or spray dried to produce solid product, called crude bio-based fiber gum (crude BFG). Alternatively semi-pure product (semi-pure BFG) was prepared by ethanol precipitation of the concentrated waste stream. Semi-pure product was also produced by purification of the original unconcentrated waste stream using 10, 50 and 100 KDa MWCO ultrafiltration membranes. A highly pure BFG was prepared from the unconcentrated waste stream by first adjusting its pH to 4, removing the precipitated material and precipitating the resulting supernatant with two times ethanol. All three kinds of BFGs have a typical arabinoxylan structure with a slight variation in Ara/Xyl ratio showing some differences in their branching. There is a big variation in their molecular weights (33 to 386 KDa) due to variation in the processing conditions of the waste stream. BFGs are good emulsifiers for oil-in-water emulsion system, binding agents for petroleum coke pellets and briquettes, antioxidants and soluble dietary fibers with antioxidant activities showing a great potential for their applications in both food and non-food industries.