INTRODUCTION

    WHAT DO THESE PRODUCTS: GRITS, FLAKES, MEAL AND FOOD MIX, FLOUR, OIL, VITAMIN, MINERAL AND PROTEIN CONCENTRATES, ANIMAL FEEDS, ETHYL AND BUTYL ALCOHOLS, WHISKEY, BEERS AND BREWING PRODUCTS, DISTILLED LIQUORS, STARCH, SUGAR, SYRUP, ACETONE, GASOLINE, PROCESSED RAYON, PLASTICS, AND OTHER PRODUCTS MAY HAVE IN COMMON?

The answer is CORN GRAIN

HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?
    Very simple.  The corn grain has unbelievable nutritional and industrial value thanks to the PROPERTIES OF ITS THREE BASIC PARTS:

1. THE GERM, which is rich with oil protein and vitamin
2. THE HULL, which is rich with mineral and protein fiber
3. THE ENDOSPERM, which is rich with carbohydrates (starch, sugar, ecetera), proteins and vitamins

PROBLEM

    BUT, HOW TO SEPARATE THE CORN GRAIN IN THEIR PARTS IN THE MOST EFFICIENT WAY SO THAT WE CAN GET MORE AND BETTER INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS FROM IT?

HYPOTHESIS

    In our experiment, we think that the best way to separate the corn grain into its parts is by adding a specific amount of water which will break the organic textures which exist among the GERM, the hull, and the endosperm before its industrial processing of milling and/or degerming.

MATERIALS

 Grain Corn
 Triple Beam Balance- 2610 gr OHAUS
 Cycle Blend Designer- OSTERIZER
 Graduated Cylinder- 100ml
 Sandwich Plastic Bags
 Plastic Sieves and Bolters Different Sizes

PROCEDURE

1. Weight 12 samples of dry corn (100 gr each).

2. Mill 3 of these samples in dry condition.

3. Sieve the products of this milling process: First, through the wide bolter (receiving grits), second,          through the middle bolter (medium semolina), third, through the sieve (receiving thin semolina), and fourth, through the small sieve (production of flour).  Label this finished products, weight it, store it in plastic bags and record the results.

4. Take 3 more samples of the original 12 samples and add 25ml of water to each of these samples.

5. After 1 hour, mill each of these samples (mentioned on point #4), sieve them, label them, weight them, and record the results as it was explained above in point #3.

6. Take 3 more samples of the original 12 samples and add 50 ml of water to each of these samples.

7. After 1 hour, repeat the same operations made on point #5 and #3 (as it was explained above).

8. Take the last 3 original samples left, and add 75ml of water to each of them.

9. After 1 hour, repeat the same operations made on points #5 and #3 (as it was explained above).

        NOTE:  During the experiment, the following parameters will remain constant:

                                        *Speed of the Blender = MAX.
                                        *Time of Blending = 15 Seg.
                                        *Temperature of the water = 72°F
                                        *Weight of each original sample = 100gr
                                        *Tampering Period = 1 hour

DATA

    Influency of the Moistening Extent of Corn Grain on the Yield of Flour and Semolinas

            Dry Corn(grams)    W/ 25ml of Water     W/ 50ml of Water        W/ 75ml of Water

Sample #     l    ll   lll   Av        l    ll    lll   Av              l     ll    lll    Av           l    ll    lll    Av

Grits           19 20 19  19       34  36  35  35            102 100 104 102           9  10   9    9

Semolina
Medium      17 15 19  17       27  27  27  27              24   24   24  24           159 158 160 159

Thin
Semolina    47 44 45  45        52  50  51  51              22   22   21  22             7     7   6     7

Flour          17 21 17  19       12  12  12  12                2     4     1   02            0     0   0     0

Total                   100 gr                125gr                             150 gr                         175gr

NOTE:
         In this experiment we consider that the weight of the water added to each sample of 100gr of grain
         corn equal the amount of milliliters added (the density of the common water used is about 1gr/ml).

RESULTS

    Results of the Research of the Influency of the Moistening Extent of Corn Grain on the Yield of Flour and Semolinas expressed in Percentage of the Average of the production of mentioned finished products.

            Dry Corn         W/ 25ml of Water     W/ 50ml of Water     W/ 75ml of Water
Average:   (gr)        (%)        (gr)         (%)           (gr)          (%)            (gr)        (%)

Grits         19           19         35           28            102           68              9            5

Semolina
Medium    17           17         27           21             24           16             159         91

Thin
Semolina   45            45        51            41            22            14               7           4

Flour         19            19        12            10            02            02               0           0

Total       100gr       100%    125gr      100%         150gr       100%         175gr   100%

NOTE:
            In this experiment we came to the final results using math tools like the calculation of average and
             percentage.

            Example #1: Calculating the average and the percentage of the production of semolina medium received by
                                  milling the dry grain corn:

                                 Average = (17+15+19)gr/3=17gr
                                 Percentage = (17gr*100%)/100gr = 17%

            Example #2: Calculating the average and the percentage of the production of semolina medium by
                                  milling the grain corn with 50ml of water:

                                 Average = (24+24+24)gr/3=72gr/3=24gr
                                 Percentage = (24gr * 100%)/150gr = 16%

APPLICATIONS

    The results of our experiment find a great and wide application for the corn processing industry.  Based on our results we can recommend to the industry to wet the corn grain before milling it.  We can see from the chart and from the graphs that the most favorable moistening level of the grain corn is between 0% and 25%.  At 0% we received the biggest production of flour (19%), but a little production of grits and semolina medium (17%) which are important for the production of oil, food mix and meal products; for the starch and carbohydrate industry.  In this condition (0% water-dry milling), the yield of thin semolina (used for the production of beers and other beverages) is close to the production of the grain with 25ml of water.  The processing of grain corn with 50ml and/or 75 ml is not recommended since the production of flour and thin semolina during these different wet milling processes was very poor.

CONCLUSION

    We concluded that our hypothesis was correct: The best way to separate the germen, the hull, and the endosperm from the whole grain corn is adding specific amount of water which will depend on the finishing products that we would like to obtain.  If our goal is to produce flour and thin semolina, we should wet the corn grain between 0% and 25%.  If our goal is to produce animal feeds, we may wet the corn grain between 25% and 50%, and so forth.  Dry milling and super wet milling are not recommended for the corn grain processing.

1. HEALTH PLANTS OF THE WORLD, Francesco Bianchini.  Francesco Corbetta, Newsweek
    Books, NY 1977

2. FOOD AND NUTRITION, Audrey H. Ensminger, M.E. Ensminger, J.E. Konlade, J.R. Robson.
    CRC London 1995

3. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Mc. Graw-Hill. 7th Edition, N.Y. 1992

4. MIDDLE GRADES MATHEMATICS, Suzanne H. Chapin, Mark Illingworth, Marsha S. Landau,
    Joanna O. Mansingila, Leah Mc. Cracken.  Needham, Massachusetts 1995