hominy?

[Guest guest]

Hi,

 

You don't get the nutrients if you don't

break down the outer part of the corn seed.

If you don't get the nutrients you can get

pellagra.

 

http://www.killerplants.com/plants-that-changed-history/20040224.asp

<http://www.killerplants.com/plants-that-changed-history/20040224.asp>

" ...

Corn has niacin, but it is bound to other molecules

and cannot be assimilated in the human digestive

tract. Corn is also low in tryptophan from which the

body can manufacture niacin. Pellagra was a common

disorder among impoverished people whose main source

of energy was the consumption of corn, particularly

dried mature corn used for flour or meal. In the

beginning of the 20th century, pellagra was thought

proof that certain peoples were inferior when they

were simply suffering from a vitamin deficiency.

 

But native peoples with diets high in corn and corn

meal (tortillas and hominy) did not have a high rate

of pellagra. The answer was simply a matter of

preparation. Corn for cornmeal and hominy was treated

with lye, limestone, or wood ashes. The addition of

" cal " to the making of cornmeal for masa (corn dough

for tortillas) or lye for making hominy broke the

chemical bond and freed the niacin for absorption by

the body. And the natives combined beans (Phaseolus

vulgaris Linnaeus) with their corn diet. Beans contain

the tryptophan needed make additional niacin and build

complete proteins. "

 

I'm curious how they came upon using lye to

make the corn nutritious.

 

Gary

 

--- ~ PT ~ <patchouli_troll wrote:

 

> Sounds like great ways to serve it, Donna.

> i just don't know what it is still. *lol*

> Corn soaked in lye???? That does not sound

> good. Why would people do that?

>

> Maybe digest #211 has the answer....

> :::goes to read it:::

>

> ~ pt ~

>

> From quiet homes and first beginning,

> Out to the undiscovered ends,

> There's nothing worth the wear of winning,

> But laughter and the love of friends.

> ~ Hillaire Belloc

>

>

>

>