Efficient process engineering for extraction of hemicellulose from corn fiber and its characterization

The present work, aims to extract hemicellulose from de-starched corn fiber (by-product of corn wet-milling industry) by using alkalis, combinations and hydrothermal treatments. The corn fiber was destarched by amylase and achieved 34% (w/w) maltose and 1.5% (w/w) glucose. Maximum yield of solubles from corn fiber via thermochemical treatment is 47% (w/w) in the liquid fraction. The compositional analysis of extracted solubles was rich in arabinoxylan, monosaccharides, ferulic acid and oligosaccharides. The characterization of extracted fraction were analysed by FTIR, SEM and HPLC techniques. The remaining insoluble fraction (cellulose) was 51.6% (w/w). Oligosaccharides rich liquor and the cellulose enrichment of the solid phase make corn fiber suitable as a prebiotic fiber in the food industry. The integrated process not only converted the fiber to valuable products like maltose, hemicellulose (hemicellulose B) and cellulose but, also a sustainable approach for utilization of starch industry processing by-products of corn.