Relationships between texture, mechanical properties and structure of cornflakes

Hominies and flours derived from four corn varieties were prepared according to industrial recipes and processed as petals by extrusion cooking (SME = 150 J g−1, Tdie = 130 °C) and a batch thermal process (100 °C, 50 min). Flake texture was evaluated by crushing bulk petals in a Kramer cell and comparing measurements to those obtained for commercial cornflakes, previously graded by a trained sensory analysis panel. Depending on the corn variety, various results were found in regard to crispness. Bending moduli of dense extruded materials (Es from 0.5 to 2.1 GPa) were found to be correlated to the texture of petals derived from the same blends. Results obtained at different scales showed that the expanded microstructure of flakes, determined by X-ray tomography, and the morphology of their constitutive materials, deduced from confocal scanning light microscopy and RVA, primarily depended on the process used rather than on the corn variety. Adhesion between protein aggregates and amorphous starch matrix was inferred from the mechanical properties involved in texture.