High pressure process and system for the production of fresh whole corn masa, nixtamalized whole corn flour, and derived products

Corn has been the traditional cereal for the preparation of tortillas in Mexico and some countries of Central America. Also, corn tortillas, corn chips, and tortilla chips have widely penetrated the market of the United States and some countries of Asia and Europe. In Mexico, approximately 70% of the total corn production is consumed in the form of tortillas. For low resource population, tortillas are the main source of calories and proteins. A high pressure process and system for the production of fresh whole corn masa, nixtamalized whole corn flour, and derivates wherein dry corn grains are transported by means of an elevator to a series of cleaning screens to separate impurities and foreign material before they are subjected to a cooking step. The corn grains as well as lime and water are fed continuously to a cooking device, which is subjected under a combination of pressure and temperature, to reduce the time of cooking of the whole corn grains. So, nixtamalized corn grains are obtained for the preparation of fresh whole corn masa and nixtamalized whole corn flour for tortillas, tortilla chips or the like.