Development and Utilization of Corn Processing by-Products: A Review

As an important food crop, corn has an important impact on people's lives. The processing of corn produces many by-products, such as corn gluten meal, corn husk, and corn steep liquor, which are rich in protein, oil, carbohydrates, and other nutrients, all of which are inexpensive. Their accumulation in large quantities during the production process not only results in a burden on the environment but also the loss of potentially valuable food materials that can be processed. In fact, the by-products of corn processing have been partially used in functional foods, nutrients, feed, and other industries. There is no doubt that the secondary utilization of these by-products can not only solve the problem of waste pollution caused by them, but also produce high value-added products and improve the economic benefits of corn. This paper describes in detail the processing and higher-value utilization of the five main by-products: corn gluten meal, corn husks, corn steep liquor, corn germ, and fuel ethanol by-product. The utilization status of corn processing by-products was discussed roundly, and the development trend of corn processing by-products in China and other countries was analyzed, which provided the reference for the development of the corn deep processing industry.