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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Aberdeen, Idaho » Small Grains and Potato Germplasm Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #249927

Title: Changes in oil content, fatty acid composition, and functional lipid profiles during dry grind ethanol production from corn.

Author
item Liu, Keshun
item Moreau, Robert
item Moser, Jill

Submitted to: American Oil Chemists' Society Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/16/2010
Publication Date: 5/16/2010
Citation: Liu, K., Moreau, R.A., Moser, J.K. 2010. Changes in oil content, fatty acid composition, and functional lipid profiles during dry grind ethanol production from corn.. American Oil Chemists' Society Meeting. Phoenix, AZ, May 16-19.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Demand for alternatives to fossil fuels has resulted in a dramatic increase in ethanol production from corn. The dry grind method has been the major process, resulting in a large volume of dried distiller grains with solubles (DDGS) as a co-product. This presentation reports our study to monitor concentration changes of various types of lipids during the entire dry grind process of corn. Samples of ground corn, intermediate products and DDGS were provided by three commercial plants in Iowa. After lyophilization, the moisture and crude oil levels as well as the fatty acid, phytosterol, tocopherol, and tocotrienol composition were measured. Results from Plant 1 samples show that the three steps that caused significant increases in oil content as compared with ground corn were slurrying, fermentation, and centrifugation (only into thin stillage). However, for all other lipids measured, including fatty acid composition (relative to total fatty acids), and composition of phytosterols, tocopherols and tocotrienols (relative to total lipid mass), the process did not cause significant changes, even at the three critical steps that caused significant increases in oil content. The conclusion is that the dry grind process caused a significant change in lipid quantities, but not lipid quality. Data from Plant 2 and 3 confirmed those found with Plant 1 samples. Keywords: DDGS, Lipids, Changes, Dry grind process, Ethanol, Corn