Corn flour or maize flour is usually obtained by grinding all the panicle (Zea mays L.) with leaves and stems, with the exception of corn starch extracted from the panicle alone.
This flour has interesting properties from a healthy point of view.
The results of this study suggest that even though there were pigment losses, creole maize pigments show antioxidant and antimutagenic activities after nixtamalization process (1).
From corn they are industrially extracted:
- Fructose syrup or HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup)
- Glucose syrup
- Glucose-fructose syrup
- Maize syrup (unusual diction as the content should be specified, whether fructose or glucose. Glucose is sugar, so a component to be taken in moderation. Fructose is a low-calorie carbohydrate sweetener that, frankly, would be best avoided )
It has a low caloric content.
Suitable for coeliacs.
Contents of carotenoids in maize or maize (1):
- Neoxanthine and violetxanthin: 9%
- Lutein: 60%
- Zeaxanthin: 25%
- Criptoxanthin: 5%
- Lycopene: 0%
- Alpha carotene: 0
- Beta carotene: 0
References________________________
(1) Fruits and vegetables that are sources for lutein and zeaxanthin: the macular pigment in human eyes.
Olaf Sommerburg, Jan E E Keunen, Alan C Bird, Frederik J G M van Kuij
corn flour