PHYSICOCHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND POZOLE QUALITY OF CACAHUACINTLE MAIZE PROCESSED BY THREE METHODS

Abstract

Pozole is a typical Mexican dish made from soft maize (Zea mays L.) grains, nixtamalized in a traditional way and boiled until grains form a flower-like structure (flowered grain). Cacahuacintle maize is used in the Central Plateau of México to make pozole. In the commercial method, maize grain undergoes nixtamalization with lime and sodium hydroxide, then the pedicel is mechanically removed. Afterwards, nixtamal is blanched (20 h) with sodium metabisulfite and acetic acid. The consumer boils the grains until they become “flowered grains”. An alternative method maize grains by nixtamalization with optimal calcium and potassium hydroxide concentrations; a potassium metabisulfite solution is added for a short time for blanching; and finally, the grain is boiled to obtain “flowered grains”. This study 1) evaluated “pozole” quality of Cacahuacintle maize following the traditional, commercial and alternative methods; and 2) determined the effect of these processes on the chemical composition of grains in three phases, nixtamal, blanched grain, and “flowered grain” (“pozole”). Cacahuacintle maize used in this study was grown in the 2011 Spring-Summer cycle at Nativitas, State of México. Measured variables (physical, chemical, and process-related) were analyzed in a completely randomized design. Cacahuacintle maize grains were very soft and large. The alternative method produced the highest volume of “flowered grains”, and the resulting “pozole” grains were as bright as grains processed with the commercial method. The “pozole” from the alternative method had less sodium (Na) than that from the commercial method. Concurrently, calcium (Ca) and potassium (K) contents diminished with the three methods, compared to nixtamal and to blanched grains. The alternative method reduced processing time by 76 %, and its “pozole” had better nutritional quality due to higher lysine, tryptophan, and calcium contents, and sodium reduction. Nixtamal prepared according to the traditional method registered the highest moisture content, but required longer periods for “flowered grains” production, and had the least quality. For the three methods, and at different stages of the “pozole” elaboration process, starch and ash contents increased, while those of amylose, protein, lipids, and tryptophan diminished.