Corn wet-milling generates large volumes of corn steep water, which is
composed of kernel
extractives, microbes (principally lactobacilli), numerous products of
fermentation processes, and
dissolved SO2. In order to understand better the
process of steeping and the potential uses of corn
steep water, its composition was analyzed and compared at various times
during the steeping from
four different industrial processes. Of particular interest were
the analyses of corn steep water for
carbohydrates, amino acids, polypeptides, fatty acids, and other
organic compounds, hydrolytic
enzymes, heavy metals, and inorganic ions. This study, together
with an earlier analysis of corn
steep water for myo-inositol phosphates (Hull and
Montgomery, 1995), provides a basis for informed
judgment of the nutritional and biotechnological value of corn steep
water, an abundant byproduct
of the corn wet-milling industry.
Keywords: Corn steep water; compositional analysis; steeping