**3.2 Corn germ oil**

It can be obtained by solvent extraction. Maize oil has become a highly desired vegetable oil owing to its relatively high level of linolenic fatty acid and its excellent

**21**

*Nutritive Value*

**3.3 Popcorn**

**3.4 Corn starch**

**3.5 Cornflakes**

**4. Nutritive value of maize**

**4.1 Macronutrients**

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.88963*

produce a high-quality vegetable oil for cooking or food use.

flavour. The fat content of maize is 3.6%, and oil extracted from it can be refined to

A particular variety of corn is used to make popcorn and most famous food items

It is the most widely used product obtained from maize. It is made by a process of wet milling in which the hull and germ are removed and the corn ground and mixed with water. The semi-liquid material is separated by passing it over sieves or centrifuging it. The starch settles out while most of the proteins are suspended. The starch is then washed, dried and powdered. Corn starch is widely used because it is inexpensive, lacks characteristic flavour and cooks to a smooth and almost clear paste in water or other clear liquids and is superior to wheat flour or potato starch. Corn starch flavoured with vanilla and containing edible colours is solid as custard powder.

The whole grain is crushed between the large metal rollers to remove the bran from the outer layer and then mixed with seasoning agents (salt, sugar, flavours and fortified minerals) and water in a large rotating pressure cooker. The physiochemical properties like time, temperature and speed of rotation vary with the type of grain being cooked. The cooked grain is moved to a conveyor belt which passes through a drying oven. In this process, soft and solid mass is obtained which can be moulded into desired shapes. Then these cooked grains are allowed to cool, and stabilising the moisture content is known as 'tempering'. Then the tempered grains are flattened between large metal rollers under tons of pressure, and the resulting flakes are further conveyed to ovens with blast of very hot air to remove reaming moisture and to toast them to desirable flavours. Cornflakes are also processed from extruded pellets in a similar way.

Maize provides approximately 1400 Kcal/100 g (on a dry basis) of energy that is sufficient to maintain the equilibrium. This energy is also used to perform different types of physiological task. Maize or corn can be consumed as a source of energy in the form of breakfast cereals as cornflakes, chapattis, tortillas, etc. Maize also contains an appreciable amount of fat content that helps in the carrier of fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. The presence of fat in maize or corn is responsible for much of the texture and flavour of food. Thus it helps in increasing the palatability.

derived from maize. To make popcorn a hard corneous endosperm is desirable. Other desirable traits of popcorn are good flavour, tenderness, the absence of objectionable hulls and high popping expansion. Moreover, the moisture content recommended is 13.5% for the best popping expansion. The popping of corn is a method of starch cookery. As the kernels of popcorn are heated, the water vapour within them expands, increasing the pressure until it is sufficient to make the kernels explode or 'pop' [5]. Popping can be done with or without fat as well. Ready-to-cook popcorns are also easily available that are enriched with both nutrition and taste. Thus it can be added as supplementary snacks in the diet of malnutrition children.

flavour. The fat content of maize is 3.6%, and oil extracted from it can be refined to produce a high-quality vegetable oil for cooking or food use.
