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Reduction of Moniliformin During Alkaline Cooking of Corn¹

¹Published as Paper No. 12919 Journal Series. Agricultural Research Division, Lincoln, NE 68583. Research was conducted under Project 16-056. This material is based upon work supported by Cooperative State Research Education and Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture under Agreement No. 9702551, and was also supported in part by a research grant from the Anderson Research Fund of the NC-213 Regional Research Project. ²Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68583-0919. ³Corresponding author. Email: lbullerman1@unl.edu. Phone: 402-472-2801. Fax: 402-472-1693.

The incidence of moniliformin (MON) producing Fusarium spp. in selected corn (Zea mays L.) samples from Mexico and the United States and the effects of alkaline cooking and the tortilla manufacturing processes on the reduction of MON were determined. The percentage of infected kernels with Fusarium spp. ranged from 0 to 22% in eight foodgrade corn samples, including six from Mexico and two from the United States. Complete (100%) reduction of MON was observed when a naturally contaminated corn sample containing 1.4 μg of MON/g of corn was used in a pilot-scale alkaline cooking and tortilla manufacturing process. In a companion laboratory-scale study, using a cultured corn sample containing 17.6 μg of MON/g of corn, a 71% reduction of the toxin was observed during the process. Alkaline cooking appeared to be an effective method for reduction of MON in corn.