Skip to main content
ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #131992
Title: PRE-TREATMENT OF WET-MILLED CORN FIBER TO IMPROVE RECOVERY OF CORN FIBER OIL, AND PHYTOSTEROLS

Author
item SINGH, VIJAY - UNIV. OF ILLINOIS,URBANA
item Johnston, David
item Moreau, Robert
item Hicks, Kevin
item Dien, Bruce
item Bothast, Rodney

Submitted to: Cereal Chemistry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/5/2002
Publication Date: 8/5/2002
Citation: Cereal Chem. 80:118-122, 2003

Interpretive Summary: Corn fiber oil is a potentially valuable nutraceutical product because it has some unique compounds that have been shown to lower serum cholesterol. Extraction of corn fiber oil is a very expensive process because the concentration of oil in the fiber is very low. Approximately 97% of the corn fiber is non-lipid material. If a process could be developed to remove this non-lipid material, it would increase the concentration of oil in the fiber and, therefore, lower the cost of obtaining corn fiber oil. In this study wet milled corn fiber was treated with different enzymes, acid or a combination of enzyme and acid to remove the non-lipid component and increase the concentration of oil in the residual material. The results showed that removal of non-lipid material by pre-treating the fiber with acid and enzyme combination increased the concentration of oil in the fiber from about 2% to 12%.

Technical Abstract: The unique phytosterol-containing oil in the corn fiber (corn fiber oil) has potential use as a natural LDL-cholesterol-lowering nutraceutical but its low concentration in fiber (1-3%) makes it difficult and expensive to extract. Pre-treatment of corn fiber with dilute acid and/or glucosidases removed non-lipid components of fiber, producing oil-enriched fractions that should be more amenable to efficient and inexpensive oil extraction. Analytical results showed that acid as well as enzymes significantly increased the content of corn fiber oil and its phytosterol compounds by hydrolyzing (and removing) the starch and non-starch (cell wall) polysaccharides from the wet milled corn fiber. Dual treatment of the fiber with acid and enzyme gave a greater increase in the final concentration of corn fiber oil and its phytosterol components when compared to acid or enzyme treatments alone. Depending upon the treatment, the oil concentration in the residual solids increased from 88-807% and the total phytosterol concentration increased by 64 to 710%, compared to the untreated fiber sample (control sample)