Baking & Snack - September 2017 - 80

CORN INGREDIENTS

Purple corn offers
distinctive color attributes as well as a great
source of anthocyanins.
Suntava

right into the shell.
Crafted with artisanal
blends of corn and grains, the
shells have a distinctive flavor, aroma
and texture. They come in four varieties: Blue Corn, White Corn with Chia
Seeds, Yellow Corn & Ancient Grains,
and Whole Grain & Lentil.
Anson Mills, Columbia, SC, offers Henry
Moore Yellow Hominy Corn, an heirloom
crop that dates back more than 150 years to the
Pennsylvania region. Before fall harvesting, the
farmers let the corn dry on the stalks in the field.
They then crib, or pile, it up in ventilated storage
containers for winter drafts to further dry the kernels.
This process develops complex flavors that translate
well into cornmeal and masa.
Harvest Market uses whole hominy corn to make
Henry Moore Cornbread. Unlike the baker's other
cornbreads that include cornmeal and wheat flour. The
retailer's Blue Hopi Cornbread uses a blend of organic
blue corn and wheat flour.
"Purple corn is one of nature's richest sources of anthocyanins," Mr. Howell said. "These anthocyanins are
pH sensitive, meaning the color can vary based on the
pH of the finished product." He explained that if a more
purple color is desired, formulators want to have pH in
the range of 4.5 to 6. Going lower on the pH scale will
offer a more reddish or pink color while going higher
will deliver a much darker color. It is available in raw,
whole form as well as flour, meal and grit.
"Our purple corn offers consistent color, texture,
taste, quality and value-added nutritional benefits,"
Mr. Howell said. "It has more antioxidant power than
blueberries, acai berries and pomegranate juice due to
its exceedingly high levels of polyphenols and anthocyanins. Our purple corn's vibrant colors maintain their
presence throughout the manufacturing process to the
finished product, allowing formulators to add color to
their foods naturally."
Cargill offers a full range of dry corn ingredients, including bran, flour, grits, masa flour and meal. Its whole
grain corn products are made using a proprietary processing technology that ensures key attributes of the
corn kernel are consistent from batch to batch. As a result, label claims are not at risk from changing crops or
agronomics.
"Whole grain corn products can help improve the
overall nutritional profile of the final product, whether
it's gluten-free or a traditional baked good," Mr. Smith
said.
An insoluble dietary fiber, whole grain corn flour
contains 8 g fiber in 100 g flour. Corn bran, which con-

80 Baking & Snack September 2017 / www.bakingandsnack.com

tains 86% total dietary fiber, is considered a source of
intact and intrinsic dietary fiber and provides another
option for fiber enrichment, Mr. Smith added. There are
a number of other ingredients derived from corn that
are available to bakers. Some provide functionality while
others are more for visual appeal.

Free to function
Thymly Products, Inc., currently buys about 15 different types of corn that go into numerous products. All of
them go into the baking powder and cornstarch products the company offers. Bakers can use them in anything from a tortilla chip to a pizza.
Cornstarch stops premature gassing in baked products
not only in the bag but once food producers start to use
the product. Yellow corn cones are a finer granulation of
cornmeal. Their most common use is as dusting meal for
pizzas and English muffins. When added to grain blends,
they add a color and texture to baked goods.
"Not only do the yellow corn cones look impressive by
themselves, but by contrast, they make the other grain
particulates more appealing," Mr. Muller-Thym said.
Historically, they were used as a release aid for pizza
crust and bread but lately are being used in whole grain
baked goods.
"My personal favorite is toasted corn germ, which has
been widely used in the snack food industry to produce
whole grain chips," he said. This ingredient can be used
in breads to add whole grains to the label while also
giving bread both buttery and nutty notes. Unlike a lot
of other whole grains, it adds flavors that resonate in a
positive way with customers, he added.
Ingredion, Inc., offers a range of food starches that
provide desirable texture to clean-label baked corn tortilla chips. The texturizer series is a toolbox of cost-efficient functional starches that allow snack manufacturers
to produce high-quality sheeted snacks to meet consumers' texture preferences. Specifically for baked corn tortillas, there's a food starch that contributes to improved
sheetability, uniformity of cell structure in expansion
and a unique and differentiated texture in baked snack
applications. It delivers a crispy texture with long moisture breakdown in crackers, crispy, yet crunchy texture
in fabricated baked chips and a harder bite in baked tortilla chips.
For clean-label formulating, it is now possible to
source many of these ingredients organic and nonGMO. The heirloom varieties have always been nonGMO, and, providing that there's segregation during
milling, processing and packaging, these corn ingredients are gluten-free. Because they do not contain gluten,
batters and doughs must be carefully managed to include protein or other ingredients that provide strength.

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