Micronutrient and protein-fortified whole grain puffed rice made by supercritical fluid extrusion.

Supercritical fluid extrusion (SCFX) was used to produce shelf-stable puffed rice fortified with protein, dietary fiber, and micronutrients. Product ingredients and process parameters were evaluated for end-product nutritional and textural qualities. Supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO(2)) served as a viscosity-lowering plasticizer and blowing agent during the process, which has been shown to produce expanded products with good textural qualities at lower temperatures (~100 °C) than conventional steam-based extrusion (130-180 °C). The fortified puffed rice contained 8% dietary fiber, 21.5% protein, and iron, zinc, and vitamins A and C at their recommended daily values in 100 g of product. The SCFX process allowed for the complete retention of all added minerals, 55-58% retention of vitamin A, and 64-76% retention of vitamin C. All essential amino acids including lysine were retained at exceptionally high levels (98.6%), and no losses were observed due to Maillard reaction or oxidation. All of the essential amino acid contents were equal to the reference protein recommended by FAO/WHO. Soy protein fortification improved the total amount of protein in the final rice products and provided a complementary amino acid profile to that of rice; the lysine content improved from 35 to 60 mg/protein, making the end product an excellent source of complete protein. Thus, SC-CO(2)-assisted extrusion is an effective process-based approach to produce cereal grain-based, low-moisture (5-8%) expanded products fortified with protein and any cocktail of micronutrients, without compromising the end-product sensory or nutritional qualities. These products are ideally suited for consumption as breakfast cereals, snack foods, and as part of nutrition bars for school lunch programs. The balanced nutritional profile and use of staple crop byproducts such as broken rice makes these expanded crisps unique to the marketplace.

Recovery and characterization of α-zein from corn fermentation coproducts.

Zeins were isolated from corn ethanol coproduct distiller's dried grains (DDG) and fractionated into α- and ß Î³-rich fractions. The effects of the ethanol production process, such as fermentation type, protease addition, and DDG drying temperature on zein recovery, were evaluated. Yield, purity, and molecular properties of recovered zein fractions were determined and compared with zein isolated from corn gluten meal (CGM). Around 29-34% of the total zein was recovered from DDG, whereas 83% of total zein was recovered from CGM. Process variations of cooked and raw starch hydrolysis and fermentation did not affect the recovery, purity, and molecular profile of the isolated zeins; however, zein isolated from DDG of raw starch fermentation showed superior solubility and film forming characteristics to those from conventional 2-stage cooked fermentation DDG. Protease addition during fermentation also did not affect the zein yield or molecular profile. The high drying temperature of DDG decreased the purity of isolated zein. SDS-PAGE indicated that all the isolated α-zein fractions contained α-zein of high purity (92%) and trace amounts of ß and γ-zeins cross-contamination. Circular dichroism (CD) spectra confirmed notable changes in the secondary structure of α-zeins of DDG produced from cooked and raw starch fermentation; however, all the α-zeins isolated from DDG and CGM showed a remarkably high order of α-helix structure. Compared to the α-zein of CGM, the α-zein of DDG showed lower recovery and purity but retained its solubility, structure, and film forming characteristics, indicating the potential of producing functional zein from a low-value coproduct for uses as industrial biobased product.

Utilizing protein-lean coproducts from corn containing recombinant pharmaceutical proteins for ethanol production.

Protein-lean fractions of corn (maize) containing recombinant (r) pharmaceutical proteins were evaluated as a potential feedstock to produce fuel ethanol. The levels of residual r-proteins in the coproduct, distillers dry grains with solubles (DDGS), were determined. Transgenic corn lines containing recombinant green fluorescence protein (r-GFP) and a recombinant subunit vaccine of Escherichia coli enterotoxin (r-LTB), primarily expressed in endosperm, and another two corn lines containing recombinant human collagen (r-CIα1) and r-GFP, primarily expressed in germ, were used as model systems. The kernels were either ground and used for fermentation or dry fractionated to recover germ-rich fractions prior to grinding for fermentation. The finished beers of whole ground kernels and r-protein-spent endosperm solids contained 127-139 and 138-155 g/L ethanol concentrations, respectively. The ethanol levels did not differ among transgenic and normal corn feedstocks, indicating the residual r-proteins did not negatively affect ethanol production. r-Protein extraction and germ removal also did not negatively affect fermentation of the remaining mass. Most r-proteins were inactivated during the mashing process used to prepare corn for fermentation. No functionally active r-GFP or r-LTB proteins were found after fermentation of the r-protein-spent solids; however, a small quantity of residual r-CIα1 was detected in DDGS, indicating that the safety of DDGS produced from transgenic grain for r-protein production needs to be evaluated for each event. Protease treatment during fermentation completely hydrolyzed the residual r-CIα1, and no residual r-proteins were detectable in DDGS.

Recovering corn germ enriched in recombinant protein by wet-fractionation.

Corn wet-fractionation processes (quick-germ fractionation and traditional wet milling) were evaluated as means of recovering fractions rich in recombinant collagen-related proteins that were targeted for expression in the germ (embryo) of transgenic corn. Transgenic corn lines accumulating a recombinant full-length human collagen type-I-alpha-1 (full-length rCIalpha1) or a 44-kDa rCIalpha1 fragment targeted for seed expression with an embryo-specific promoter were used. Factors to consider in efficient recovery processes are the distribution of the peptides among botanical parts and process recovery efficiency. Both recombinant proteins were distributed 62-64% in germ comprising about 8.6% of the dry grain mass; 34-38% in the endosperm comprising 84% of the dry grain mass; 1.7% in the pericarp comprising about 5% of the dry mass; and 1% in the tip-cap comprising 1.5-2% of the dry mass. The quick-germ method employed a short steeping period either in water or SO(2)-lactic acid solution followed by wet-milling degermination to recover a germ-rich fraction. Of the total recombinant protein expressed in germ, the quick-germ process recovered 40-43% of the total recombinant protein within 6-8% of the corn mass. The traditional corn wet-milling process produced higher purity germ but with lower recovery (24-26%) of the recombinant protein. The two quick-germ methods, using water alone or SO(2)-lactic acid steeping, did not substantially differ in rCIalpha1 recovery, and the quick-germ processes recovered germ with less leaching and proteolytic losses of the recombinant proteins than did traditional wet milling. Thus, grain fractionation enriched the recombinant proteins 6-fold higher than that of unfractionated kernels. Such enrichment may improve downstream processing efficiency and enable utilizing the protein-lean co-products to produce biofuels and biorenewable chemicals by fermenting the remaining starch-rich fractions.