WO2014175718A1

WO2014175718A1 - Methods for producing flour, based on corn cob grains, and mixture for producing food products

Info

Publication number: WO2014175718A1
Application number: PCT/MX2013/000122
Authority: WO
Inventors: Fausto Manuel CAMACHO URIARTE
Original assignee: Camacho Uriarte Fausto Manuel
Priority date: 2013-04-26
Filing date: 2013-10-04
Publication date: 2014-10-30
Also published as: MX361068B; MX2013005176A

Abstract

The invention relates to methods for producing flour from corn cob grains, comprising: harvesting the corn cobs when they are in the milky stage thereof; eliminating a portion of between 2 and 4 mm from the base of the cob, by means cutting with a cutting instrument; removing the leaves that cover the cob; removing the stigmas of the cob until it is completely clean; removing the milky grains from the cob by means of suitable means; dehydrating the removed grains until a humidity of between 0 and 12 % is reached; and grounding the dehydrated grains with a conventional grinder. The invention also relates to the flour produced by the methods, and to the food products that can be prepared using said flour.

Description

METHODS FOR OBTAINING FLOURS, BASED ON CORN ELOTE GRAINS, AND MIXTURES TO PREPARE FOOD PRODUCTS

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the technical field of food, since it provides a method for obtaining flour based on corn kernels, mixtures comprising said flour, for the preparation of food products, such as tamales, tortillas, among others.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The problem of the use of sweet corn grain is accentuated in its conservation in a natural way and in the wide distribution for Mexicans who live outside the Mexican Republic, where cooked corn and corn kernels are highly accepted, however , are products that must be consumed in a short time after they are made because they lose their organoleptic properties.

The corn is considered ripe for consumption or for grain processing, when the leaf wrap is still tight and has a pleasant green appearance, the cob has not lost its firmness and the grains are soft and release a milky liquid be pressed At this stage the corn represents high protein and total sugar content that raise the nutritional value and give a pleasant taste to the palate.

The storage of the corn causes a loss of quality and sweetness, the sugar content, which largely determines the quality, decreases in a relatively slow way at the low temperature, but said sugar loss increases as the storage temperature increases.

Currently, tamales made with flour or corn dough are difficult to commercialize industrially, because the Corn kernel flour is highly perishable. In addition, the traditional elaboration of corn tamales is a highly laborious activity, since it requires an intensive use of active and experienced labor.

In the traditional way of making corn tamales, the corn should be selected when the grain has completely formed ^' , before starting to harden. The lower part of the corn should be cut, preferably, with a machete or knife, approximately half a centimeter of the pot should be included in order to facilitate removing the leaves without damaging them and selecting the best ones, for the elaboration of tamales. The beards or stigmas must be removed from the corn, until it is completely clean and the stage of shelling. The shelling of the corn has traditionally been done with a knife and the procedure indicates to make a cut flush with the pot, preferably, from the thickest part of the corn to the thinnest part, until the grain is clean.

The grains separated from the pot are ground in a domestic or industrial mill, to obtain a whitish-looking dough with which the tamales are made according to the traditional way. In general, the addition of shortening, sugar, salt to the corn dough is required and then placed inside the leaves to form the tamale that goes into a cooking process.

For the preservation of perishable products, such as the corn tamales is expensive, the ultra systems freezing or frozen required such as cold rooms, _^ areas of cold packaging and other technological aspects which increase the product .

At present, only flours have been obtained from mature and dried corn grains, as is the case of US7740895 which provides a process for the production of a food product from corn grain endosperm. For its part, US6265013 describes a process for the production of fresh dough, nixtamalized flour and derived products. That is why in the present invention a method is provided for obtaining flour based on corn kernels, in order to obtain the raw material for the elaboration of products based on the flour obtained. Where the raw material, which is flour, has a longer shelf life and will be used at the time that the production of food products is desired.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The characteristic details of the present invention are clearly shown in the following description and accompanying examples, which are merely one of the many modalities for carrying out the invention, therefore, they should not be considered as a limitation for this invention. . The present invention provides a method for the production of cornmeal, that is cornmeal, a mixture is also proposed for the preparation of food products: tamales, tortillas, bread, cookies, etc., which includes the flour obtained.

The method for obtaining flour from corn, of the invention, is described below with the following steps or steps. Harvest the corn when they are in their milky stage, which depends on the variety of corn, but on average it is at 80 days, counted from the germination and emergence of the plants when they are sown. At this stage, the beans are filled with a white milky liquid.

Remove a portion of 2 to 4 mm, from the base of the corn, this in order to remove the leaves easily. The elimination It can be manual with a cutting instrument, such as a saw, or mechanically with a cutting machine.

Remove the stigmas from the corn until it is completely clean, either manually or in some other way, for example with air, water, to name a few examples.

Remove the milky grains from the corn by appropriate means to leave the pot clean, for example it can be slicing longitudinally flush with the pot, with a cutting edge tool, such as knives; however, a slicing machine could also be useful, such as those comprising pistons and knives; or also called corn cots machine. Dehydrate the removed grains, to a humidity of 0 to 12%, recommending a dehydration where the grain does not lose its organoleptic and nutritional characteristics, for example 3 to 5%, preferably. For example, it can be a direct dehydration to the grains, where the grains are placed on trays and subjected to a tunnel with hot air; Although also, you can expose the beans directly to the sun.

The grains can also be dehydrated with the help of a drum dryer, in order to produce dehydrated grain in a homogeneous way to a uniform quality. The drum dryer improves the taste characteristics and stability of the dehydrated grain. The invention includes the corporation of a system with countercurrent air flow with the direction of rotation of the drums.

Grind the dehydrated grains, with a conventional mill, to obtain particles of a mesh size around 60 mesh. An option of the present method is to reverse the dehydration stage and the grinding stage, that is, it can be ground first. 00122

-5- the grains and then dehydrate the obtained mass. Dehydrate the same way as dehydrated grains without grinding.

Up to this point we obtain a flour from corn cobs, which can be useful for many uses, in addition to being stored for a longer time. Therefore, the flour obtained by means of this method falls within the scope of protection of the present invention. One of the uses of the aforementioned flour is for the production of food products, such as tamales, tortillas, bread, cookies, cakes, etc., for this, the flour is combined with the necessary ingredients of each food product. Therefore, we obtain mixtures to prepare food products, such as tamales, tortillas, bread, cookies, etc. Where such mixtures include the flour in question, therefore, such mixtures are also included in the scope of protection of this invention; as well as the food products obtained.

Both flour alone and mixtures can be packaged for distribution or storage. Also included are the procedures for preparing a food food, which comprises mixing the flour mixture obtained in the present invention with the necessary ingredients, according to the type of food to be prepared. Examples

Example 1. The following example illustrates one of the embodiments of the method of the present invention. The method for preparing flour from corn maize, comprised the following steps: 1. The corn was harvested when they were in their milky stage, approximately at 80 days, after being sown. At this stage, the beans are filled with a white milky liquid.

2. The corn was peeled, removing the leaves, an optional way to do it is, cut with a circular saw, 2 to 4 mm at the base of the corn, to facilitate the removal of the leaves that cover the corn.

3. Stigmas were manually removed from the corn until it was completely clean.

4. The milky grains of the pot were removed, by means of a slicing machine, of which they include a piston and knives, that slice, longitudinally, flush with the pot to detach the grains.

5. The detached grains were dehydrated to a humidity of 3 to 5%, with the help of a drum dryer with the incorporation of a dry air stream against the current with the direction of rotation of the drums, in order to produce dehydrated grain in a homogeneous way to a reasonable quality. The drum dryer improves the taste characteristics and the stability of the dehydrated grain.

6. Dehydrated grains were ground, with a conventional mill, to obtain a flour with granules of a mesh size of 60 mesh.

An corn meal was obtained, for use in different edible products. This type of flour could not be obtained, since traditionally, fresh corn kernels are ground and immediately used, because it is a highly perishable dough, oxidizing and bitter immediately . However, if dehydration is included, the flour has greater durability.

Among the tests performed on corn flour of the present invention, its water absorption capacity was reviewed. The test was simple and consisted only of passing a part of the flour and adding water gradually, a manual kneading was carried out until a mass of good consistency was obtained. The amount of water added was recorded as the water absorption capacity of the flour.

The flour of the present invention was subjected to a bromatological analysis from which it was determined: moisture (gravimetry), ashes (gravimetry), protein (kjeldlh), ethereal extract (soxleth), crude fiber (wiende) and E.L.N. (mathematician) The results are shown in the following Table

Table 1. Bromatological analysis of cornmeal.

Cornmeal obtained by the process of the present invention is interesting, from the nutritional point of view, because the protein content is similar to that of the flours obtained by extrusion, for Creole maize, but is superior to that of the commercial product. PT / MX2013 / 000122

-8-

Example 2. This example illustrates one of the many applications that the flour obtained in this invention can have.

In this case, a mixture was prepared for making tamales; where said mixture comprises:

Cornmeal, of the present invention 59 to 62%

Vegetable butter 14 to 16%

Sugar 22-25%

Exit 0.1 to 0.3Í

These quantities will depend on the quality, variety, of the corn. Likewise, all those variants that are obvious to an expert in the field of the present invention are included within the scope of the spirit of the present invention. For example, vegetable shortening can be any other fat or oil, whether of vegetable or animal origin, the important thing is that it is edible grade. Sugar can be substituted for any other sweetener, even those low in calories; and salt can be another ingredient that meets the characteristics of giving a salty taste. You can also adhere an edible dye to give a better appearance to the tamale.

The preferred mixture for the elaboration of tamales is the following:

Corn flour 61%

Vegetable butter 15%

Sugar 23%

Salt 0.2%

The mixture for tamales, of the present invention, was tested, in the elaboration of tamales from the same batch of sweet corn corn. With one part of the corn tamales were made with the traditional way and with the other flour was prepared with the method of the invention Next, tamales were made using the leaves obtained from the corn, in both cases. The elaborated tamales were tasted by a group of people, who came to the conclusion that the characteristics of both groups of tamales were similar based on the results of the various tests performed.

Claims

A method of obtaining a flour, from corn corn kernels, comprising: i) harvesting corn corn when they are in their milky stage;

ii) remove a portion of 2 to 4 mm, from the base of the corn, by means of a cut, with an instrument for cutting;

iii) remove the leaves that cover the corn;

iv) remove the stigmata from the corn until it is completely clean;

v) remove, from the pot, milky corn kernels by appropriate means;

vi) dehydrate the removed grains, to a humidity of 0 to 12%; Y

vii) grind the dried beans, with a conventional mill.

The method of the preceding claim, wherein the milky stage of the grains, depends on the variety of corn.

The method of the preceding claim, wherein the harvest of the corn is at 80 days, on average, counted from the germination and emergence of the plants when they are sown.

The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the cutting instrument is a saw, or a cutting machine.

The method according to the preceding claims, wherein the removal of stigmas is manually, with air, water, or the combination thereof.

The method according to the preceding claims, wherein the grains are dehydrated at a humidity of 3 to 5%, preferably.

7. The method, as claimed in the preceding claims, wherein the dehydration is direct to the grains, placing the grains on trays and subjected to a tunnel with hot air.

8. The method according to the preceding claims, wherein the dehydration of the grains is by exposing the grains directly to the sun. 9. The method according to the preceding claims, wherein the dehydration of the grains is done with a drum dryer; and a system with countercurrent air flow with the direction of rotation of the drums.

10. The method according to the preceding claims, wherein the grinding is until particles of a mesh size of about 60 mesh are obtained. 11. A method of obtaining a flour, from corn corn kernels, comprising: i) harvesting corn corn when they are in their milky stage;

ii) remove a portion of 2 to 4 mm, from the base of the corn, by means of a cut, with an instrument for cutting, - iii) remove the leaves covering the corn;

iv) remove the stigmata from the corn until it is completely clean;

v) remove, from the pot, milky corn kernels by appropriate means;

vi) grind the dehydrated grains, with a conventional mill, to obtain particles of a mesh size around 60 mesh; Y

vii) dehydrate the mass obtained from the previous stage, to a humidity of 0 to 12%.

12. The method of the preceding claim, wherein the milky stage of the grains, depends on the variety of corn.

13. The method of the preceding claim, wherein the harvest of the corn is at 80 days, on average, counted from the germination and emergence of the plants when they are sown.

14. The method according to any of claims 11 to 13, wherein the cutting instrument is a saw, or a cutting machine.

15. The method according to claims 1 to 14, wherein the removal of the stigmas is manually, with air, water, or the combination thereof.

16. The method according to claims 11 to 15, wherein the dough is dehydrated at a humidity of 3 to 5%, preferably.

The method, as claimed in claims 11 to 16, wherein the dehydration is direct to the dough, placing it on trays and subjected to a tunnel with hot air.

The method according to the preceding claims, wherein the dehydration of the dough is directly exposing it to the

19. The method according to the preceding claims, wherein the dehydration of the dough is done with a drum dryer, - and a system with countercurrent air flow with the direction of rotation of the drums.

20. A flour obtained from corn corn kernels, characterized in that said flour is obtained by any of the methods of the preceding claims. twenty-one . A mixture for making a food product, comprising, the flour of the preceding claim.

The mixture according to the preceding claim, wherein food product is: tamales, tortillas, bread, cake biscuits.

23. A food product, comprising the mixture of claim 21. 24. A method of preparing the food product of claim above, comprising: mixing a sufficient amount of the flour of claim 20, with ingredients suitable for preparation of said food product.

25. A mixture for making a tamale, comprising: i) Corn corn kernel flour; wherein said flour is the flour referred to in claim 20; ii) Vegetable fat;

iii) A sweetener; Y

iv) A common salt.

26. The mixture of the preceding claim, wherein the amounts of the ingredients are as follows: i) Corn corn kernel flour 59 to 62%

ii) Vegetable fat 14 to 16%

iii) Sweetener 22 to 25%,

iv) Common salt 0.1 to 0.3%.

27. The mixture of the preceding claim, wherein the preferred amounts are: i) Corn corn kernel flour 61%

ii) Vegetable fat 15%

iii) Sweetener 23%

iv) Common salt 0.2%

28. The mixture of claims 25 to 27, wherein the vegetable fat is vegetable shortening.

29. The mixture of claims 25 to 28; Where the sweetener is sugar. 30. The mixture according to the preceding claims, wherein the common salt is sodium chloride.

31. A tamale, comprising the mixture of any one of claims 25 to 30.

32. A method for making a tamale, comprising mixing: i) Corn corn kernel flour; wherein said flour is the flour referred to in claim 20; ii) Vegetable fat;

iii) A sweetener; Y

iv) A common salt.

33. The method of the preceding claim, wherein the amounts of the ingredients are as follows: i) Corn corn kernel flour 59 to 62%

ii) Vegetable fat 14 to 16%

iii) Sweetener 22 to 25%; and iv) Common salt 0.1 to 0.3%.

34. The method of the preceding claim, wherein the preferred amounts are: i) Corn corn kernel flour 61%

ii) Vegetable fat 15%

iii) Sweetener 23%

iv) Common salt 0.2%

35. The method of claims 32 to 34, wherein the vegetable fat is vegetable shortening.

36. The method of claims 32 to 35, wherein the sweetener is sugar.

37. The method according to claims 32 to 36, wherein the common salt is sodium chloride.