Influence of drying temperature on the wet-milling performance and the proteins solubility indexes of corn kernels

The effects of air drying temperature on the wet-milling performance and the proteins solubility indexes were investigated for corn kernels dried between 54 °C and 130 °C. It was observed that when the drying temperature increases, the starch yield drops significantly. The gluten recovered increased abruptly for drying temperatures up to 80 °C. The albumin, globulin and zein solubility indexes decreased continuously when corn drying temperatures increased. According to the temperatures used, the starch yield, the gluten recovered and the salt-soluble proteins solubility indexes were adjusted satisfactorily by using a two asymptotic logistic model. This model has the advantage of supplying information on the dynamic of the variation of described parameters. The solubility index of total salt-soluble proteins was shown to be a suitable indicator of the severity of the drying treatment in regard to the corn wet-milling performance.