Corn germ is a substantial byproduct of the wet milling and alcohol industry of corn. Corn germ (dry) contains 35–56 % oil, with linoleic acid (C18:2) being the predominant fatty acid (49–61.9 %) and the highest level of tocopherol and phytosterol amongst all vegetable oils, which is a cost-effective resource for healthy nutritious oil.
How to extract oil from corn germ during flour processing?
This work aimed the recovery of oil and protein fractions from corn germ (CG) generated as a by-product during flour processing. Several oil extraction techniques were investigated: hexane at room temperature, hexane at 45 °C, supercritical carbon dioxide (Sc-CO 2) and Soxhlet with hexane and ethanol.
How is corn germ oil produced?
Currently, commercial corn germ oil is produced by pressing and/or hexane extraction (Moreau and Hicks 2005 ), in which oil is obtained from conditioned (heated) germs, followed by mechanically expelled (‘pre-pressed’) and then hexane extraction (Moreau 2011 ).
What ethanol is used to treat corn germ?
The highest yield of 93.74 % was obtained when ground steam-exploded corn germ (1.3 MPa, 30 s, 30–35 μm particle size) was treated with 30 % ( v /v) aqueous ethanol for 2 h, at 60 °C and pH 9.0. The residual oil content in water and sediment phase decreased dramatically to 4 % and 3 %, respectively.