Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Products per se – or processes of preparing or treating... – Plant material is basic ingredient other than extract,...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-15
2002-05-07
Corbin, Arthur L. (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Products per se, or processes of preparing or treating...
Plant material is basic ingredient other than extract,...
C426S626000, C426S549000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06383547
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates the production of tortillas and related products. More particularly, it pertains to an additive composition for corn and other cereal grain flour to impart advantageous qualities to tortillas and related products produced therefrom.
2. Background and Description of Related Art
a. Background
Tortillas
Tortillas, which are prepared from unleavened, unshortened, flat, circular dough pieces generally made from nixtamalized corn or corn flour and baked on a griddle. Corn has been the traditional cereal for the preparation of tortillas and similar food items in Mexico and Central America from masa. However, other cereal grains, such as sorghum or wheat, may be employed for this purpose. The dough which is used in making tortillas and related products generally only contains ground limed or non-limed whole corn and water.
Tortillas may be used to prepare other corn-containing products, such as tortilla chips, corn chips, taco shells, tostadas, enchiladas, burritos, nachos, sopapillas, tamales and other maize and non-maize snacks and products by methods known by those having skill in the art.
Tortillas have a high moisture content (generally about 45 weight percent moisture of the total weight of the tortillas after cooking). This significantly affects their strength, stability and nutrient density.
The strength of the tortillas is directly related to the stability (shelf life) of the tortillas. It is well-known that tortillas, when kept under conditions in which no moisture is lost, nevertheless become hard and inflexible (stale) with the passage of time, and break or crumble easily when flexed or bent. This effect increases with time. Freshly made tortillas are very flexible, but lose their flexibility with the passage of time. The hardening (loss of flexibility) or staling generally increases with decreasing temperature, and are believed to be due to a physico-chemical change in the starch constituent of tortillas (retrogradation). Tortillas, when prepared normally without additives, generally have a maximum shelf life of about 12 to about 15 hours. After such time, they are generally spoiled by microorganisms, and become hard or stale.
For the preparation of refined foods, corn is usually subjected to a milling process. In these processes, the hulls (bran) and germ, which are the structures rich in minerals and vitamins, are more or less completely removed. The refined mill products, such as masa flour, consist chiefly of the endosperm. Portions of the corn kernel removed from the endosperm, such as the hulls or bran, are considered to be waste by-products which are often put into animal feed.
Components of the Maize (Corn) Kernel
Botanically, a maize kernel is known as a caryposis, a dry, one-seeded, nutlike berry in which the fruit coat and seed are fused to form a single grain. Mature kernels are composed of four major parts: pericarp (hull or bran), germ (embryo), endosperm and tip cap. The average composition of whole maize, and its fractions, on a moisture-free (dry) basis is as follows:
Fraction of
Kernel
Starch
Protein
Liquid
Sugar
Ash
Whole Maize
%
%
%
%
%
%
Whole Grain
100
71.6
10.3
4.8
2.0
1.4
Endosperm
82.3
86.4
9.4
0.8
0.9
0.3
Germ
11.6
8.2
18.8
34.6
10.8
10.1
Pericarp
6.3
7.3
3.7
1.0
0.3
0.8
Tip cap
0.8
6.3
9.1
3.8
1.6
1.6
Pericarp: The maize kernel is covered by a water-impermeable cuticle. The pericarp (hull or bran) is the mature ovary wall which is beneath the cuticle, and comprises all the outer cell layers down to the seed coat. It is high in non-starch-polysaccharides, such as cellulose and pentosans. (A pentosan is a complex carbohydrate present in many plant tissues, particularly brans, characterized by hydrolysis to give five-carbon-atom monosaccharides (pentoses). It is any member of a group of pentose polysaccharides having the formula (C
5
H
8
O
4
)
n
found in various foods and plant juices.) Because of its high fiber content, the pericarp is tough.
Germ: The scutellum and the embryonic axis are the two major parts of the germ. The scutellum makes up 90% of the germ, and stores nutrients mobilized during germination. During this transformation, the embryonic axis grows into a seedling. The germ is characterized by its high fatty oil content. It is also rich in crude proteins, sugars, and ash constituents. The scutellum contains oil-rich parenchyma cells which have pitted cell walls. Of the sugars present in the germ, about 67% is glucose.
Endosperm: The endosperm contains the starch, and is lower in protein content than the germ and the bran. It is also low in crude fat and ash constituents.
Tip cap: The tip cap, where the kernel is joined to the cob, is a continuation of the pericarp, and is usually present during shelling. It contains a loose and spongy parenchyma.
Corn Milling
In milling corn to obtain flour, the corn is first cleaned, and is then usually passed through a scourer to remove the tip from the germ end of the kernel. The corn is then tempered by the addition of water to a moisture content which is generally from about 21% to about 24%. The corn is frequently then passed through a corn degerminator, which frees the bran and germ, and breaks the endosperm into two or more pieces. The stock from the degerminator is generally dried to about 14% to 16% moisture in revolving dryers equipped with steam coils, and is then cooled in revolving or gravity-type coolers. The stock is next passed through a hominy separator, which first separates the fine particles, and then grades and polishes the larger fragments into four sizes. The various grades of broken corn are passed through centrifugal-type aspirators to remove any loose bran from the endosperm fragments, and produce milled cereal by-products such as aspirated bran. These by-products are waste products which heretofore had little value.
“Aspirated bran” is an impure form of whole bran which generally contains some of the floury endosperm, and the starch and protein present therein, and some germ, and the protein present therein, and may contain some grits. Generally, most of the germ and grits will already have been removed from the cereal grain at this point in the milling process. It is possible for the aspirated bran to contain no germ, to contain all of the germ, or to contain any amount of germ in between. Similarly, the aspirated bran fraction may contain no grits from the cereal grain, may contain all of the grits, or may contain any amount of the grits in between. The milled cereal by-product or aspirated bran which may be used to prepare the additive composition of the invention should contain at least about 15 weight percent starch, at least about 6 weight percent protein, and at least about 2 weight percent crude fiber. These percentages are based upon the weight of the by-product or bran which naturally includes moisture if it is not subjected to drying. This naturally occurring moisture in the by-product or bran ranges from about 10 to about 15 weight percent of the bran.
Masa Flour and Dough
Masa flour (dry corn flour which has usually been nixtamalized) and masa (corn dough which has usually been nixtamalized) are raw materials which may be used for the preparation of tortillas, corn chips, tortilla chips, taco shells, nachos and similar products.
Nixtamalization is the cooking of cereal grain, such as whole corn kernels, in a medium which usually contains an alkaline agent, such as water containing lime (CaO). Thereafter there is steeping (soaking) of the cereal grain for a period of time, for example, for about three to about fourteen hours, subsequent draining of any remaining cooking liquor, washing of the cereal grains, and grinding of the cereal grains to make with drying a cereal grain flour, which may be added with water to make a cereal grain dough from which tortillas and related products may be prepared. It is well-known that not only tortillas, but also masa dough used to make tortillas, prepared without additives are extremely unstable, and have a relatively short shelf l
Burianek Mark D.
Delrue Rita M.
Sheehan Steven T.
Valle Sergio
Xenides Carol J.
Cargill Incorporated
Corbin Arthur L.
Fitch Even Tabin & Flannery
LandOfFree
Process for preparing aspirated bran as a flour additive does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Process for preparing aspirated bran as a flour additive, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Process for preparing aspirated bran as a flour additive will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2859980