Products comprising corn oil and corn meal obtained from high oil corn

Abstract

Corn oil and corn meal obtained from high oil corn are included in useful products. The corn oil is extracted from the high oil corn to form the corn meal. The corn oil generally comprises levels of nutrients not found in commercially available corn oils, since most or all of the corn grain, rather than just the germ, is exposed to the extraction process. The corn grain generally includes the steps of flaking corn grain having a total oil content of at least about 6 wt. % and extracting a corn oil from the flaked corn grain. The corn oil is useful for making nutritionally enhanced edible oil or cooking oil, lubricants, biodiesel, fuel, cosmetics and oil-based or oil-containing chemical products. The extracted corn meal is useful for making enhanced animal feed rations, snack food, blended food products, cosmetics, and fermentation broth additive.

We claim:  
     
         1 . A corn meal remaining after the extraction of oil from whole high oil corn.  
     
     
         2 . The corn meal of  claim 1 , wherein the whole high oil corn has an oil content of about 6 wt. % or greater.  
     
     
         3 . The corn meal of  claim 1 , wherein the oil content is from about 7 wt. % to about 30 wt. %.  
     
     
         4 . The corn meal according to  claim 2 , wherein the whole corn is tempered prior to extraction of the oil.  
     
     
         5 . The corn meal according to  claim 4 , wherein the tempered corn is cracked prior to extraction of the oil.  
     
     
         6 . The corn meal according to  claim 5 , wherein the cracked corn is flaked prior to extraction of the oil.  
     
     
         7 . The corn meal according to  claim 5 , wherein the tempered corn is cracked prior to extraction of the oil.  
     
     
         8 . The corn meal according to  claim 7 , wherein the cracked corn is conditioned prior to extraction of the oil.  
     
     
         9 . The corn meal according to  claim 8 , wherein the cracked corn is flaked prior to extraction of the oil.  
     
     
         10 . A method for processing whole high oil corn comprising: 
 1) conditioning the tempered and cracked whole high oil corn;    2) flaking the cracked whole high oil corn; and    3) extracting the flaked corn to produce corn meal and corn oil.    
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising the step of tempering the whole high oil corn.  
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the step of conditioning is before the step of tempering the whole high oil corn.  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising the step of cracking the whole high oil corn.  
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising the step of cracking the whole high oil corn.  
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the step of cracking is before the step of conditioning the whole high oil corn.  
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the step of cracking is after the step of tempering and before the step of conditioning the whole high oil corn.  
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the oil content of the whole corn is about 6 wt. % or greater.  
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the oil content of the whole corn is from about 7 wt. % to about 30 wt. %.  
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the step of extracting is accomplished by extracting corn oil from grain flaked corn using a continuous solvent extraction process.  
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the flaked corn remains in contact with the solvent for a time sufficient to extract the desired amount of oil.  
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the flaked corn remains in contact with the solvent for at least 10 minutes.  
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the thickness of the flakes is from about 0.1 mm to about 1.0 mm.  
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the solvent comprises hexane.  
     
     
         24 . A method of producing ethanol comprising: 
 1) combining the corn meal of  claim 1  with water and alpha-amylase enzyme;    2) incubating the combination and including at least one additive to the combination; and    3) mixing the combination with a micro-organism capable of fermenting a carbon source to produce ethanol.    
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 24  wherein the additive is selected from the group consisting of glucoamylase and protease.  
     
     
         26 . A biodiesel comprising corn oil produced by the extraction of the oil from whole high oil corn.  
     
     
         27 . A method of recovering lighter particles generated during the processing of high oil corn comprising separating lighter particles from heavier particles by passing a stream of gas over the high oil corn particles such that lighter particles are carried away in the gas stream.  
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the gas is selected from the group consisting of air, nitrogen and argon.  
     
     
         29 . A method of recovering lighter particles generated during the processing of high oil corn comprising separating lighter particles from heavier particles by passing a liquid spray over the high oil corn particles such that lighter particles are carried away.  
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 29  wherein the liquid spray is water.  
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 30 , wherein said liquid spray further comprises at least one component selected from the group consisting of vitamins, minerals, enzymes and combinations thereof.  
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein said liquid spray further comprises a caustic liquid.  
     
     
         33 . A biodegradable product made from solvent extracted corn meal from high oil corn.  
     
     
         34 . The biodegradable product of  claim 33  wherein the solvent extracted corn meal is treated with an organic solvent.  
     
     
         35 . The biodegradable product of  claim 33 , wherein the extracted corn meal is further treated with a cross-linking agent.  
     
     
         36 . The biodegradable product of  claim 35 , wherein the cross-linking agent is selected from the group consisting of an aldehyde, an acid anhydride, an epoxide or combinations thereof.  
     
     
         37 . A feed comprising corn meal produced by the solvent extraction of oil from whole high oil corn.  
     
     
         38 . The feed of  claim 37 , wherein the feed is animal feed or aquaculture feed.  
     
     
         39 . The feed of  claim 38 , wherein the animal feed is chicken feed.  
     
     
         40 . The feed of  claim 39 , wherein the feed is aquaculture feed.  
     
     
         41 . Corn oil remaining after extraction of flaked corn from whole oil corn.  
     
     
         42 . The corn oil of  claim 41 , wherein the whole high oil corn has an oil content of about 6 wt. % or greater.  
     
     
         43 . The corn oil of  claim 42 , wherein the oil content is from about 7 wt. % to about 30 wt. %.  
     
     
         44 . The corn oil according to  claim 42 , wherein the whole corn is tempered prior to extraction of the flaked corn.  
     
     
         45 . The corn oil according to  claim 44 , wherein the tempered corn is cracked prior to extraction of the flaked corn.  
     
     
         46 . The corn oil according to  claim 45 , wherein the cracked corn is flaked prior to extraction of the flaked corn.  
     
     
         47 . The corn oil according to  claim 45 , wherein the tempered corn is cracked prior to extraction of the flaked corn.  
     
     
         48 . The corn oil according to  claim 47 , wherein the cracked corn is conditioned prior to extraction of the flaked corn.