Raw Versus Processed Corn in Niacin-Deficient Diets

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Abstract
The growth depression of rats fed a high-corn diet, in the absence of niacin, was reduced by steeping the corn in lime water, then neutralizing and drying it, a process similar to the one commonly used by generations of Mexican peasants in making “tortillas.” Corn reconstituted from the fractions obtained on wet-milling did not show this enhanced effect, being no different in its effects from the untreated material. The full effect of the lime-water treatment was obtained by treatment of the non-starchy fractions — gluten, germ, and feed meal.