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A Review of the Primary By-product (Nejayote) of the Nixtamalization During Maize Processing: Potential Reuses

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Abstract

The production of nixtamalized products worldwide has been increased over past decades. The first pre-treatment applied to maize is the well-known Nixtamalization procedure, which produces large quantities of its primary by-product called ‘Nejayote’; this by-product is commonly discarded into the urbanized sewage without any additional treatment. Recently, Nejayote has attracted attention due to its high organic load based on high content of organic (arabinoxylans, phenolic compounds, sugars, fibers) and inorganic compounds (calcium). Thus, this by-product may have potential for value-added processing and utilization, which can be alternatives, that simultaneous hold the promise of increased economic benefit for masa producers as well as decreased potential pollution for the environment. The goal of this paper is to provide a critical review of reusing this primary by-product. State-of-the-art of developments in the field are chronologically reported and described. Particular attention is paid to experimental results reported for the reclamation of its high-added value compounds that have been identified as the potential approach concerning on the utilization of the by-product. The recovered components have demonstrated biological activities that increase their potential exploitation.

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Abbreviations

AXs:

Arabinoxylans

BOD:

Biological oxygen demand

COD:

Chemical oxygen demand

MF:

Microfiltration

NWs:

Nixtamalization wastewaters

NF:

Nanofiltration

UF:

Ultrafiltration

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Acknowledgements

R. Castro-Muñoz acknowledges the European Commission—Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) for his PhD scholarship under the program: Erasmus Mundus Doctorate in Membrane Engineering – EUDIME (FPA No 2011-0014, Edition V, http://eudime.unical.it). Part of this work was supported by the Operational Program Prague – Competitiveness (CZ.2.16/3.1.00/24501) and “National Program of Sustainability“(NPU I LO1613) (MSMT-43760/2015).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Chemistry and Technology Prague, Technická 5, 166 28, Prague 6, Czech Republic

    Roberto Castro-Muñoz & Vlastimil Fíla

  2. Laboratorio de Bioconversiones, Unidad Profesional Interdisciplinaria de Biotecnología, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Av. Acueducto S/N Col. Barrio La Laguna, Ticoman, 07340, Mexico, D.F., Mexico

    Enrique Durán-Páramo

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  1. Roberto Castro-Muñoz
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Castro-Muñoz, R., Fíla, V. & Durán-Páramo, E. A Review of the Primary By-product (Nejayote) of the Nixtamalization During Maize Processing: Potential Reuses. Waste Biomass Valor 10, 13–22 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-017-0029-4

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