Anhydrous corn processing

摘要

Anhydrous methods of fractionating corn grain that do not require the use of water but rather depends on use of organic solvents are described. The methods include contacting whole grain corn flour with a at least one organic solvent selected from the group consisting of a C1-C6 alcohol, ketone, ester or furan to form an admixture having no more than 15% w/w water. The admixture is separated into i) a solids fraction enriched with corn fiber and protein and 2) a liquid organic slurry comprising suspended starch, dissolved corn oil and the organic solvent. The starch is separated from the first organic slurry to obtain a solvent extracted solid starch fraction and a clarified organic solution. The clarified organic solution which contains dissolved oils is retained and may be evaporated to obtain corn oil that can be further refined.

主权项

1. A method of fractionating corn grain, comprising
contacting corn flour with a sufficient amount of at least one C1-C6 organic solvent selected from the group consisting of an alcohol, ketone, ester or furan to form a first admixture having no more than 15% w/w water; separating the admixture into 1) a first solids fraction enriched with corn fiber and protein and 2) a first liquid organic slurry fraction comprising starch, dissolved corn oil and the organic solvent; separating starch from the first organic slurry to obtain a solvent extracted solid starch fraction and a clarified organic solution; retaining the clarified organic solution; and, evaporating the clarified organic solution to obtain a residue comprised of corn oil.