GB878793A - Storage-stable sweet corn powder and the production thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

In a powder particularly suitable for making soups, having a basis of sweet corn and of composition 2-5% water, 5-15% protein, 10-55% fat, 1-3% ash and 30-70% carbohydrate, the particle size is 20-60 micron and the fat of the powder is encapsulated by a film of protein and amylaceous substances. Production of the powder involves grinding sweet corn, e.g. sweet corn seeds harvested 18 days after flowering of the maize or canned sweet corn, filtering off husks and other incompletely ground material from the cream so produced, mixing with edible fat or fatty oil such as hardened cottonseed oil, butter fat containing antioxidants and lecithin, beef or pork fat, with stirring and homogenization, to form an oil-in-water type emulsion in which the fat particles are preferably of size less than 30 micron, and drying, preferably spray-drying, the emulsion to a powder. Corn soup powders may be prepared by mixing the powder with corn starch, whole or skimmed milk powder and the flavouring materials and spices commonly used in soup making or, alternatively, by incorporating some or all of these soup ingredients, other than the corn starch, in the sweet corn-fat emulsion, drying the emulsion, and then incorporating the corn starch and any remaining ingredients. Examples of preparing the corn soup powders are (i) mixing the sweet corn powder with corn starch, dried skimmed milk, sodium glutamate, dried onion powder, pepper, sugar and salt; (ii) heating corn starch and wheat flour with hardened cottonseed oil, incorporating sugar, sodium glutamate, pepper and salt, cooling, pulverizing, and mixing the powder so obtained with a powder obtained by spray-drying a water emulsion of sweet corn, dried skim milk, dried onion powder, sucrose monostearate and hardened cottonseed oil. In making the powder, fat-soluble vitamins may be added to the fat preliminarily and water-soluble vitamins may be dissolved in the sweet corn-fat emulsion. The powder may be mixed with wheat flour for making fritters, cakes and bread.