ARS | Publication request: Processes to Produce Functional Foods During the Conversion of Grains to Fuel Ethanol

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: February 12, 2006
Publication Date: March 3, 2006
Citation: Moreau, R.A., Hicks, K.B., Parris, N., Dickey, L.C. 2006. Processes to produce functional foods during the conversion of grains to fuel ethanol. Presentation at the ACS Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA, March 26-30, 2006. Symposium on Healthy Products from Agricultural By-Products, Oral Paper 6.

Technical Abstract: About 4 million tons of corn fiber are produced each year in North America during the wet milling of corn (a process optimized to yield starch, sweeteners and ethanol). An additional two million tons of corn fiber is contained in the coproduct, Distiller's Dried Grains with Solubles (DDGS), a byproduct of producing fuel ethanol from corn by a process which involves fermenting whole ground corn. All of the corn fiber currently produced is blended with other byproducts and is sold as low-value animal feeds ($0.03-0.07/lb, depending on the protein content). Rather than treating this fibrous material as the lowest value byproduct from corn milling, our research program has chosen to look at fiber as one of our most abundant, currently available renewable feedstocks for the production of nutraceuticals, functional food ingredients, biobased industrial products, and biofuels. Examples of potential functional food products derived from corn fiber, corn germ, barley hulls, and other grain processing byproducts include: Corn Fiber Gum (US patent 6,147,206), a potential gum arabic substitute with excellent fat emulsifying properties; Corn Fiber Oil (US patent 5,843,499) a potential cholesterol-lowering healthy cooking oil; L-arabinose, a valuable starting material for the synthesis of chiral drugs; polyamine conjugates; tocopherols; tocotrienols; bioactive peptides; and cellulose/arabinoxylan products.