Corn oil explained

Cookbook:Corn Oil

Corn oil (North American) or maize oil (British) is oil extracted from the germ of corn (maize). Its main use is in cooking, where its high smoke point makes refined corn oil a valuable frying oil. It is also a key ingredient in some margarines. Corn oil is generally less expensive than most other types of vegetable oils.

Corn oil is also a feedstock used for biodiesel. Other industrial uses for corn oil include soap, salve, paint, erasers, rustproofing for metal surfaces, inks, textiles, nitroglycerin, and insecticides. It is sometimes used as a carrier for drug molecules in pharmaceutical preparations.

Production

Almost all corn oil is expeller-pressed, then solvent-extracted using hexane or 2-methylpentane (isohexane).[1] The solvent is evaporated from the corn oil, recovered, and re-used. After extraction, the corn oil is then refined by degumming and/or alkali treatment, both of which remove phosphatides. Alkali treatment also neutralizes free fatty acids and removes color (bleaching). Final steps in refining include winterization (the removal of waxes), and deodorization by steam distillation of the oil at 232- under a high vacuum.[1]

Some specialty oil producers manufacture unrefined, 100%-expeller-pressed corn oil. This is a more expensive product since it has a much lower yield than the combination expeller and solvent process, as well as a smaller market share.

Country Production, 2018
(tonnes)
11,707,600
2483,700
3145,548
483,700
582,503
669,300
767,900
864,700
962,300
1053,000
1146,800
Source : FAOSTAT[2]

Constituents and comparison

See also

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Corn Refiners Association. Corn Oil 5th Edition. 2006
  2. Web site: Faostat .
  3. Web site: Daley . C.A. . Abbott, A. . Doyle, P. . Nader, G. . Larson, S. . A literature review of the value-added nutrients found in grass-fed beef products . California State University, Chico (College of Agriculture) . 2004 . 2008-03-23 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080706021024/http://www.csuchico.edu/agr/grassfedbeef/health-benefits/index.html . 2008-07-06 . dead.
  4. Yong Q. Chen . at al . Modulation of prostate cancer genetic risk by omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids . The Journal of Clinical Investigation . 117 . 7 . 2007 . 17607361 . 10.1172/JCI31494 . 1890998. 1866–1875.