From corn

Starch is insoluble in cold water, but in hot water the granules gelatinize to form an opalescent dispersion. It is made from corn, wheat, potatoes, rice and other cereals by various physical processes such as steeping, milling and sedimentation. It is used as an adhesive, for sizing paper and cloth, as an inert diluent in foods and drugs, and for many other purposes. 

Fig. 6. Flow scheme for manufacture of ethyl alcohol from corn.

The Topex oceanographic satelHte used a laser-based retroreflector array for positioning. The retroreflectors were manufactured from Corning Code 7958 fused siHca, a sol—gel-derived low water vitreous siHca material (248). 

In this period, the empirical healing of certain diseases by foods was estabUshed. Examples (3) were the treatment of night blindness (vitamin A deficiency) with hver ia many cultures over centuries, of beriberi (vitamin deficiency) by use of unpoHshed rice by the Japanese navy, of scurvy (vitamin C deficiency) by citms fmits ia the British navy or piae needle extracts by North American natives, and pellagra (niacia deficiency) by a dietary shift away from corn-based foods ia many countries. Other, nondietary empirical treatments iavolved, eg, exposure of children ia northern latitudes to sunlight to cute tickets (vitamin D deficiency) (4). 

Also, pilot plant and laboratory scale anaerobic studies have demonstrated successful treatment of wastewaters of 5,000 to 50,000 mg/L GOD from corn chips containing soluble and colloidal corn starch and protein, cheese whey, organic chemicals, food, bakeiy, breweiy, paper mill foul condensate, paint, and numerous other hazardous anci non-hazardous materials. 

FIGURE 4.4 The structures of several atniuo acids that are less cotntnou but nevertheless found in certain proteins. Hydroxylysine and hydroxyproline are found in connective-tissue proteins, pyroglutatnic acid is found in bacteriorhodopsin (a protein in Halohacterium halohium), and atninoadipic acid is found in proteins isolated from corn. 

This cyclic hydroxamic acid (10) and the related demethoxy compound have been isolated from corn seedlings. Both compounds are fungistatic agents. 

Eighty-seven percent of the ethanol produced in the United States conies from corn. The remainder comes from milo, wheat, food wastes, and a small amount from wood waste. In Brazil, the largest pro-... 

Compared with other alternative motor fuel options (reformulated gasoline, compressed or liquefied natural gas, ethanol from corn or coal, methanol and electricity), propane has the lowest greenhouse gas emissions except for natural gas. According to a 1998 study by the Institute of Transportation Studies, greenhouse emissions from propane vehicles arc 21.8 percent less than from gasoline or diesel. 

It has also been found by Sair and Fetzer 28) that extraction of certain solubles from corn by treatment with alcohol materially hastens the speed of drying in a vacuum oven. 

Sorbitol occurs naturally in fruits and vegetables. Most sorbitol in foods and other products is made from corn syrup. 

Poly(L-lactic acid) EcoPLA, NatureWorks Dow-Cargill Environmental, biomedical Lactic acid from corn starch fermentation... 

Bio-based materials are materials that are taken from or made from natural materials in living things. Examples include packing pellets made from corn and soybeans, polylactic acid (a polymer used to make plastic packaging), and various kinds of pharmaceuticals. 

The heteroxylans (CHX) present in cereals, seeds, gum exudates, and mucilages are structurally more complex [6]. They have a (1 4)-)0-d-xylopyranose backbone decorated, except of the single uronic acid and arabinosyl residues with various mono- and oligoglycosyl side chains. Reinvestigations of CHX isolated from corn bran [52] have confirmed that the xylan backbone is heavily substituted (at both positions 2 and 3) with y0-D-Xylp, y0-L-Ara/, of-D-GlcpA residues and oligosaccharide side chains (1), (3) and (4). 

The aim of this chapter is to summarize some of the research findings on xylan, a natural polymer extracted from corn cobs, which presents a promising application in the development of colon-specific drug carriers. Physicochemical characterization of the polymer regarding particle size and morphology, composition, rheology, thermal behavior, and crystallinity will be provided. Additionally, research data on its extraction and the development of microparticles based on xylan and prepared by different methods will also be presented and discussed. 

The most common method to extract xylan is the alkaline extraction. Several pretreatment methods can be used in association in order to break the covalent bonds that exist between xylan and other carbohydrates during the extraction (Wang Zhang, 2006). A number of articles studied the use of ultrasound on the xylan extraction. Hromadkova and coworkers reported that 36.1% of xylan was extracted from corn cobs with 5% NaOH solution at 60°C for 10 min of ultrasonication in comparison with 31.5% of xylan in the classical extraction. Both extractive methods yielded xylan with immunogenic properties (Hromadkova et al., 1999). 

Wang and Zhang also investigated the effects on the xylan extracted from corn cobs enhanced by ultrasound at various lab-scale conditions. Results showed that the optimization conditions of xylan extraction should be carried out using (i) 1.8 M NaOH, (ii) corn cobs to NaOH solution ratio of 1 25 (w/w), (iii) sonication at 200 W ultrasound power for 30 min at 5 min intervals, and (iv) 60 °C (Wang Zhang, 2006). 

Fig. 2. SEM image of xylan powder after extraction from corn cobs (Oliveira et al., 2010).

Table 1. Rheological properties of xylan powder extracted from corn cobs...

Similarly, after a longer time of incubation, no significant changes in the cell proliferation rate was detected, as can be seen in the data for 72 h (Figure 13). In fact, this was expected due to the biocompatible nature of xylan. As a natural polyssacharide, this type of biomaterial is considered to be highly stable, non-toxic and hydrophilic (Liu et al., 2008). Accordingly, the alkaline extraction of xylan from corn has proved to be a safe approach for obtaining the polymer with no relevant toxicity (Unpublished data). 

Plant extracts containing xanthophyll diesters are saponified in composition of propylene glycol and aqueous alkali to form crystals crystallization of xanthophylls is achieved without use of organic solvents crystals are isolated and purified Xanthophylls obtained from corn gluten meal at 50 C using ethanol with ethoxyquin as antioxidant... 

Table 3 Chlorethoxyfos concentrations found in earthworms collected from corn agroecosystems in south Central Iowa...

Konstantopoulou M A, Krokos F D and Mazomenos B E (2002), Chemical stimuli from corn plants affect host selection and oviposition behavior of Sesamia nonagrioides (Lepidoptera Noctuidae) , J Econ Entomol, 95, 1289-1293. 

Fig. 10. Diffusion of auxin into agar blocks in three hours from corn coleoptile tips. The numbers given are curvatures obtained from a standard auxin test, i,.e. a measure for the auxin diffused into the agar. (A) dark control bisecting does not significantly reduce the total amount of auxin. Unilateral bluelight (B) the total amount of flavin is not significantly reduced by irradiation (C) partial bisecting indicates strong lateral-basipetal auxin transport23). (D) Radio-actively labeled auxin, symmetrically applied to the coleoptile tip, proves the conclusion drawn from experiment (C)13 G...

Chemiluminescence measurements were performed on X-ray film or Polaroid 20,000 ASA film using a camera luminometer (Tropix, Inc., Bedford, MA). The microplate luminometer we use is the Lucy 1 (Anthos Labtec Instruments, Wals, Austria). Black, white, and transparent microtiterplates and strips were from Corning Costar (Badhoevedorp, The Netherlands). 

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