[The effect of lime cooking of corn on phytic acid, calcium, total and ionizable iron content]

The present study was carried out with the objective to learn about the effect of the nixtamalization process of corn on the content of phytic acid and availability of iron in the lime-cooked corn. For the study, lots of corn with 0, 0.4, 0.8 and 1.20% of lime on the basis of corn weight, in water in the ratio of 3 to 1, and cooking times at each level of lime of 55, 65 and 75 minutes, were processed. Half of the treatments were not soaked after cooking, while the other half were soaked in the cooking solution for a 12-hour period. Statistical analysis of the data and correlations calculated showed that the phytic acid content decreased significantly during the nixtamalization process, affected by the cooking time and the level of lime used, reaching levels of reduction of around 35%. Both the ionizable iron and calcium level increased up to 52-77% and 400-478% respectively. The amount of calcium present in the cooked corn as the result of the lime cooking process, is significantly higher in comparison with the phytic acid content, which may be easily saturated and thus, unavailable to bind iron. An inverse relationship was found between phytic acid and bioavailable iron and its absorption percentage. On the other hand, soaking time did not significantly affected the phytic acid and available iron, although it contributed to a slightly higher Ca accumulation. The amount of ionizable iron was higher at higher levels of lime, which suggested that the nixtamalization process would favor the biological utilization of iron in lime-cooked corn and provide calcium to the diet.