Nixtamalization of grains to boost Vitamin B12 (Niacin)

[TWP]

This process is necessary if you plan on eating corn as a major part of your diet (both before and after some 'event").

The point is that we need Niacin in our diets to avoid the nutrient deficiency know as Pellegra.

So the process is relatively simple and you DO want to keep this process in your prepper recipes...

This article contains good information about how to do it and why.

http://www.cooksscience.com/articles/feature/transforming-corn/

There is an abundance of information on Nixtamalization on the 'net, so you can find lots of supporting documentation and other descriptions of the process.

DO NOTE, it works on other grains besides corn...  But corn is easily grown and should be part of your diet.

You DO NOT  need the pure chemicals lye (Sodium Hydroxide) or Lime (Calcium Hydroxide).  Using wood ash to produce lye is the original (and some think the best) way to go.

If you don't have access to wood ashes right now, then you can purchase "food grade" lye and lime (look in grocery stores which carry Mexican food).  Worst case, you can buy preprocessed Masa corn meal.

Since lye is highly alkaline, it can burn skin (particularly the eyes and mouth), so DO observe the warning and wash everything thoroughly during and after the process.   Lye is not poisonous, but neither is water and too much of either can be a problem...

Use ceramic or glass containers and wood or plastic spoons.  Lye will attack metal cooking utensils and can add an "off" flavor to the food being processed.

[230gr]

Actually niacin (vitamin B3) deficiency which was noted in the South after the Civil war because they did not know the old Indian technique of treating dry corn with wood ashes or burnt sea shells. This is how the term "Red Neck" cam to be as this is one symptom of niacin deficiency.  This floats off the dense corn seed coat leaving hominy which can be made into grits, and a host of corn flat breads and drinks. Not only are the nutrients more digestible but the nutrient absorbing seed coat is no longer present.

[230gr]

nixtamalization can removal of the pericarp (seed hulls) by attacking the hemicellulose and pectin from grains that are difficult to hull mechanical including maize, sorghum, and millet.

Because plant cell wall components, including hemicellulose and pectin, are highly soluble in alkaline solutions, the kernels soften and their pericarps (hulls) loosen. The components of the hull are converted to mucilaginous dextrins and monosaccharides and rendering the hull more assimilable or digestible. Nixtamalization converts about 20% of the crude fiber of a kernel of grain to digestible hemicellulose and monosaccharides.