2828

CORN:
Culture, Processing, Products
Major Feed and Food Crops in
Agriculture and Food Series
Editor G. E. INGLETI, Ph.D.
Chief, CeTeal Properties Laboratory
Northern Utilization Research and Decelopment
Division, Agricultural Research Seroice,
US. Department of Agriculture
WESTPORT, CONNECTICUT
THE AVI PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC.
1970
Copyright 1970 by
THE AVI PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC.
Westport, Connecticut
Copyright is not claimed in any portion
of this work written by a United States
Government employee as a part of his of-
ficial duties.
REGISTERED AT STATIONERS' HALL
LONDON, ENGLAND 1970
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 77-126355
ISBN-0-87055-088-8
Printed in the United States of America
2828
CHAPTER 16
G, E, Inglett
Fermentation and Distilling
Industries
Corn provides many industrial fermentations a readily avaibbk. de-
pendable, and economical source of carbohydrates, The action of appro-
priate yeasts, molds, or bacteria on a carbohydrate-containing substrate
under controlled aerobic or anaerobic conditions is used to manufacture
such useful products as alcohols, organic acids, amino acids, antibiotics.
enzymes, pigments, polysaccharides, and vitamins.
Besides being used directly as an ingredient in brewing and i s t i l l i l l ~
corn provides the major commercial source of dextrose in the United
States. Dextrose is produced by hydrolysis of corn starch, a product of
com wet milling (Chap. 9). Nearly 60% of wet-milled corn starch is
converted to dextrose in the United States (Senti 1965). This sugar pro-
vides the fermentation industry with a dependable source of pure car-
bohydrate, ApproXimately one billion pounds of crystalline dextrose are
produced annually, some of which is used by the fermentation industn'
(Kooi and Armbruster 19(7).
Dextrose production has undergone a major improvement as a result
of fermentation technology. Amylases produced by the submerged fer-
mentation of fungi on primarily ground com substrates have been used
to hydrolyze corn starch commercially since 19<30. Before that. acid 11\'-
drolysis of starch was used. The enzymatic procedure gives a higher
:'ield of dextrose and permits the hydrolysiS to proceed at a higlwr
concentration of com starch than allowed for acid, giving substantial
cost savings in evaporation of water. GluMamylase is the enz:'ll1c respon-
sible for individual cleaVing of dextrose units from acid- or a-amvlasc-
thinned corn starch. Glucoamylase is produced on a medium containing
14 to 20% ground corn and an Aspergillus strain (Armbruster 1961;
Smiley et al. 1964), Maximum yields of dextrose were obtained after
removing interfering enzymes by various treatments. The starch from
ground samples of whole com, wheat, and grain sorghum has been con-
verted to dextrose in 90 to 95% yields with a combination of a-am:'!asc
starch thinning and glucoamylase conversion (Cadmus et al. 19(6),
Dextrose as a component of fermentation media also prodcles an
energ:' source for microorganisms, Other products of the corn processing
and distilling industry that are important in fermentation are corn
Dr. G. E. Inglett is Chief, Cereal Properties Laboratory, ;'\orthem Utili7.ation
Research and Development Division, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Peoria, Ill,
307
30.') COH:": CULTCHE, l'HOCESSI:"C, I'HODCCrS
steep liquor, corn syrups, distillers' solubles, starch, and corn dIT-mill('t!
fractions-mainly corn grits and Hour.
These products from corn contribute to a large variet\ of fermenta-
tions leading to pharmaceuticals, enzymes, industrial chemicals. fooel anel
feed additives, as well as alcoholic bcvcrages.
INDUSTRIAL FEHMENTATIO:\ PRODUCTS
Phannaceuticals
During World War II the submerged fermentation proccss for pcni-
cillin production developed at the Northern !\egional !\esearch Labora-
tory (Bufton 1958) formed the basis for most of the subscquent dewlop-
ments in today's fermentation complex. 111e pharmaceutical industries
produce antibiotics, steroid hormones, certain vitamins, and gibberellins.
In 1966, total sales of antibiotics in the United States reported in
Chemical and Engineering News (Poulos 19(6) was $-150 million. All
antibiotics are derived from fermentation processes with the single excep-
tion of chloramphenicoL Penicillin, streptomycin,
tetracycline, chlorotetracycline, and form a considerable
proportion of the total sales of more than 20 antibiotics produced
industrially.
In recent years the manufacture and sales of adrenal cortical and
gonadal hormones and related compounds haw increased sharply.
The volume of all hormones in 1966 was S270 million (Poulos 1966).
many involving fermentation processing. The manufacture of many com-
mercial steroids consists of transforming a\'ailable steroids micro-
biologically to important intermediates that can be conwrted chemicalh-
to the final product.
The vitamins that are known to be manufactured, completely or in
part, are riboflavin, vitamin and ascorbic acid (vitamin C). The total
vitamin market in 1966 was $220 million (Poulos 1966).
Enzymes
In recent years microbial production of industrial enzvmes has become
increasingly important. Enz\'mes arc used today in textiles; in the manu-
facture of paper and adhesives; in sewage disposal, garment cleaning,
animal feeding; in chemical and diagnostic analysis; in biochemical re-
search, food and beverage preparations; for pharmaceutical uses; and b,'
corn processin,g industries. Among the enzymes known to be produced
from microorganisms are: amvlases (bacterial and fungal), proteases,
pectinases. invertase, glucose oxidase. and catalase. 111e Northern Re-
FERME.'HATION AND DlSTILLL"'G 11'.'DUSTRIES 309
gional Research Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Agr., has carried out much
significant research on amylases, particularly on the use of fungal amy-
lases in the conversion of grain starch to fermentable sugars (Cadmus
et al. 1966).
Industrial Chemicals
Industrial chemicals produced hv fermentation include: citric acid,
itaconic acid, gluconic acid, acetic acid, lactic acid. dihydroxyacetone,
microbial insecticides, and biosynthetic polysaccharides. There has been
a marked movement away from the production of solvents by fermenta-
tion since the end of World War II. ..nthetic methods based on petro-
leum or natural gas as raw materials are being used for ethyl alcohol,
acetone, and butanol production earlier produced b:-' fermenta-
tion.
)'Janv organic acids are prepared fermentatively. All the vinegar used
in foods and beverages is made by fermentation. :',[ost lactic acid used
in foods is made bv fermentation bv one manufacturer. But the six-
. .
million-pound domestic market for this acid is being challenged b:-' a
new chemical process. Itaconic acid is also produced b:-' one manufac-
turer in tP" United States. The total dollar volume of the business is
nearl:-' Sl million for an estimated 3 million pounds of itaconic acid
annually. Citric acid is made almost exclusively by fermentation. The
. .
total dollar value of the citric acid market in the United States, includ-
ing its derivatives. is about S30 million annually for an estimated yearly
production between 80 million and 100 million pounds. Fermentation
processes have bccn developed for fumaric, gluconic, kojic, and oxalic
acids.
)'Iarkets arc ch'wloping and growing for some other fermentation
products: dihydroxyacetone. fructose, sorbose, gibberellins, microbi:ll
insecticides, and biosynthetic polysaccharides.
:\ wide variety of microbial polvsaccharides can be produced in high
yields from sugars. One of the earl:-' successful biosynthetic polvmers
was dextran that found utility as a plasma volume extender (Dimler
1968). recently a microbial polysaccharide with considerable in-
dustrial potential, referred to as polysaccharide B-I459 or xanthan gum.
is produced from dextrose hy the microorganism Xanthomonas campestris
NRRL B-1459 (Jeanes et a1. 1961).
Food and Feed Additives
Pigments produced {,ol11l1wrcially by microbial processes include {3-
carotene and xanthopll\'lIs. Ciegler (1965) has reviewed ,a-carotene
synthesis and various t\-pl'S of microorganisms, analytical procedures,
310
mechanism of synthesis, and the production of both carotenes and
xanthophylls. Hesseltine (1961) has reviewed carotenoid production by
the Mucorales and the Choanephoraceae. Xanthophylls are most success-
fully produced by the algal cultures, Spongiococcum excentricum and
Chlorella JJyrenoidosa (Hanson 1967).
The amino acid produced by microorganisms in the largest amount
commercially is glutamic acid. The flavor enhancing agent, monosodium
glutamate, is the primary use of this amino acid. The estimated world
production or monosodium glutamate in 1963 was more than 148 million
pounds (Heininger and Jorgenson 1964). Lysine is also made by a micro-
bial process in the United States and Japan and by a chemical process
in Europe. Other amino acids, valine and isoleucine, are produced on a
smaller scale in Japan (Dulaney 1967).
Nucleotides obtained from microorganisms, mainly yeast, are provid-
ing two flavor enhancers-inosine-5'-monophosphate and guanosine-5'-
monophosphate-that are finding developing markets (Kuninaka et al.
1964). Yeast cells find many uses as a food and feed material. Bakers'
yeast is among the largest total tonnage of all types of yeast and yeast
products. Compressed bakers' yeast runs about 54,000 dry tons per year
in-the-United States and the active dry bakers' ;'east comes to about
2,100 dry tons per year (Peppler 1967).
BREWING AND DISTILLING INDUSTRIES
Alcoholic Beverages
Corn is the principal cereal grain in the United States used for alco-
holic fermentation. Nearly 70% of the grains fermented to distilled spirits
and almost 50% of the grains used in brewing are corn. Essentially all
alcoholic beverages are prepared by fermentation, whereas more than
75% of the nonbeverage or industrial eth;'l alcohol is now obtained
synthetically. In 1965, 30 million bushels of corn were used for
alcoholic beverages. Not .. has the alcoholic beverage industry grown
continuously with time, but also distilled spirits, beer, and wine. Distilled
spirits' market has gone from i21 million gallons in 1956 to 889 million
gallons in 1966 (Peppler 1967). In this same time beer went from 2,812
million gallons to 3,402. million and wine increased from 159 million gal-
lons to 264.
The materials used for ethyl alcohol production (Anon. 1967) are
shown in Table 16.1. as a substrate for alcohol production has
decreased to almost extinction in the sixties hecause of high prices and
shortages.
FERMEl'.-rATION AND DISTILLL"C L,\'DUSTRIES
TABLE 16.1
ld.\TERBL USED, OTHER TH. N FRUIT, TO PROD1:CE DISTILLED SPIRITS!
IN FISCAL YE. R 1967
:'Ilaterial Amount :'Ilaterial Amount
..\lillion Pounds ..\lillion Wine Gallons
Corn 17U5 ..\1 01asses 16
Rve Eth\"l sulfate
..\ialt Sulfite liquors
,,"heat' 61 Other materials' 177
Sorghum l-!s
Barle\" 15 ..\lillion Proof Gallons
gas Products used in 60
Ethylene gns 2S:! redistillation'
1 'Ybisky. rum, gin, .... odka. spirits, aud alcohol.
, Represenls pounds us WLeul Bour 55,80l,519 and ..heal 5,006,848.
3 Represents g31lons IiS follo\\:;: Starch milk slurry 153,041,50. atract 11.694.407,
';l,"bey 9.G59,611, anJ cbemical mixtures 1,&70,303. crude alcohol miltures
tiGl.533. aDd corn sugar slurry
4 Represents proof gallons as. hlllows: Alcohol aDd spirits of 1900 aDd over of proof. domestic
S-LD;:;.5ll and imported 3t';..\.lJ5v: alcohol aod spirits under 1900 of proof 1,577,059. reco\"C'nd
alcohol 4G2,363. "blS"Y 2,333. rum 91.&&5. gin 118.;81, and "odh
:\OTE: In addition to materials reported above Ib of ethyl chloride used in
the manufacture of 5ubstanct"s othE'f than di!'lille-d $pirits. in processes yielding distilled spirits
a
311
Brewing is the process of preparing malt beverages from grains that
have undergone sprouting (malting) and fermenting the sugars to give
some ethyl alcohol. Beer, ale, porter, and stout are typical malt bever-
ages. Corn is a primary raw material in beer production in Africa and
the Western Hemisphere. In the United States, corn grits and com syrups
are brewing adjuncts. In some countries, beer is made only from malt,
hops, and water. In Africa 1966) beer is generally produced
from sprouted corn or a combination of sprouted com and grain sor-
ghum. Corn is also used in making beer in South America (Chap. 8).
The distilling industries are those concerned with the production of
distilled spirits: bourbon, rye, corn whisk'"}', rum, brandy, gin, vodka,
cordials, and !iclueurs. Corn is one of the prinCipal grains used in the
United States in preparation of distilled liquors according to the U.s,
Dept. of :\gr. (Anon. 1966). In the preparation of bourbon, at least 51%
of the grain used must be corn. Bourbon is one of several kinds of
whisky. Whisky contains approximately 50% by volume ethyl alcohol.
In addition to ethyl alcohol and water, acids, esters, aldehydes, furfural,
fusel oil, and solids are present. Many of these constituents give whisky
its characteristic flavor and aroma (Kahn et aI. 1968).
A typical mash mavcontain, for example, 70-80% com, 15% rye, and
5-15% malt (Prescot t and Dunn 1959). The malt provides a source of
enzymes (am:'!ascs) that convert the starches of the cooked grains to
dC'xtrins and sugars. Fungal aJl1:'!ascs llsed to prepare commercial dex-
:312 COliN: CllLTllIIE, PROCESSING, PIIOl)UCrS
trose froIll starch are sometimes used as a source of needed enZVIlI('S,
The starch hvdrol:tic products of the mash arc converkd \)\' a strain
of distillers' :'east, Saccharomyces cerevisiac, to ethyl ;dcohol: The fer-
mentation liquors are distilled and the \vhisky aged in charn'd 11('\\' oak
containers. The final product's flavor and aroma depcnd on the nature
of the raw materiaL the fermentation, the method of distillation. and
the aging process. The flavor and aroma result mainh- fro11 1 the COll-
generic substances. T\;ese substances accumulate and are l11odihe:! during.
production and storage of the whisk:"
BIBLIOGRAPHY
A:-:o:-:. 1966. Agricultural markets in change. U.S. Dept. Agr.. El'IlIl Ht's.
Ser.., Rept. 95.
A:-:o:-:. 1967. Alcohol and tobacco. U.S. Treasury Dept. IntcnJ. Rc\ Sc["'\.
Pub. 67.
ARMBRUSTER, F. C. 1961. Enzyme preparation. 11.S. Pat. 3.012.9-t-t. DeC'. 1::
BUFTox, A. W. J. 1958. Industrial and economic microbioloey ill :\orth
America. Overseas Tech. Rept. 4, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London.
CADMUS, M. C. et al. 1966. Enzymatic production of glucose s\'nlp rmill
grains and its use in fermentations. Cereal Chern. 43, 658-668.
CIEGLER, A. 1965. Microbial carotenogenesis. Advan. Appl. !\licrobio1. 7. 1:29.
DIMLER, R. J. 1968. Dextran helps save lives. In Yearbook of Agricultllll'. t'.S.
Gov. Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
DULA1\'"EY, E. L. 1967. production of amino acids. In \Iinobial
Technology, H. J. Peppler (Editor). Reinhold Publishing Corp.. :\('\\. York.
HAXSOX, A. M. 1967. l\licrobial production of pigments and \'It,llI1l1l\ In
Microbial Technology, H. J. Peppler (Editor). Reinhold Publishing Corp.,
New York.
HEIXIKGER, S. A., and JORGEKSOK, D. J. 1964. Flavor potentiators: Economic
considerations. In Symposium on Flavor Potentiation. Arthur D. Little,
Inc., Cambridge, Mass.
HESSELTI1\'"E, C. W. 1961. Carotenoids in the fungi Mucorales. Speci;d refer-
ence to Choanephoraceac. U.S. Dept. Agr. Tech. Bull. 1245.
A., PITTSLEY, J. E., and SE1\,I, F. R. 1961. Polysaccharide 111459:
A new hydrocolloid polyelectrolyte produced from glucose by hacterial
fermentation. J. App\. Polymer Sci. 5, 519-526.
KAIIX, J. H., LAROE, E. G., and COl>lNER, H. A. 1968. Whiskey composition:
Identification of components by single-pass gas chromatography-mass spC{:
trometry. J. Food Sci. 33, 395-400.
KOOI, E. R., and ARMBRUSTER, F. C. 1967. Production and use of dextrose.
In Starch: Chemistry and Technology, R. L. Whistler, and E. F. Pas-
chall (Editors). Academic Press, New York.
KUNlKAKA, A., KIBI, M., and SAKAGUCHI, K. 1964. History and development
of flavor nucleotides. Food Techno\. 18, 287-293.
MIRACLE, M. P. 1966. Maize in Tropical Africa. The University of Wiscon-
sin Press, Madison, Wis.
)
IllSTlLLlXC rXUUSTHIES
PEPPLER, H. J. 1!J67. Yeast tedlllolog\. III II. J.
Peppler (Editor), Reinhold Publishing Corp., New York.
POULOS, A, 1966. Drug sales and earnings set new highs. Chern. Eng. ?\ews
44, No. 36, 90A-94A.
PRESCOTI', S. c., and DUNN, C. G. ICJ5!J. Industrial .3rd Edition.
Book Co., New York.
5E:-"I. F. R. 1965. The indust rial utilization of ccreal grains. Cereal Sci.
Today 10, 320-327; 361-3(;:2.
S).llLEY: K. L.. CAlJ)'WS, 1\1. C. IIE:"SLEY, D. E.. and A. A. 1964.
High-potency amyloglucosidase-producing mold of the AS]Jcrgillll.\ Iliger
group. App!. Microbio!. 12, 455.