What do we know about DDG?
The effort to find a suitable replacement to methyl tert - butyl ether (MTBE) in gasoline blends and gain energy independence from providers of imported petroleum has created a new demand for cereal grains in the United States, in which starch from cereal grains is fermented into ethanol. The ethanol industry has exploded over the last 10 years. In 1996, the ethanol industry produced 1.1 billion gallons of ethanol and consumed approximately 4.25% of the national corn crop. In 2006, the ethanol industry produced 4.8 billion gallons of ethanol and consumed approximately 16.4% of the national corn crop. It is projected that the ethanol industry will consume from 35% to 50% of the national corn crop in the next ten tears. Distillers grains with solubles (DDG) are co-products from the ethanol production process. These distillers dry grains have potential for use as functional foods and nutraceuticals due to the fact that they are rich in protein, unsaturated fatty acids, lignans, sphingolipids, antioxidants/phenolic acids, beta glucans and fiber. Preliminary research shows that distillers grains derived from ethanol fermentation show higher nutritional values than those of cereal grains, particularly with respect to protein, fat/lipid and dietary fiber. Preliminary results also show that distillers grain from wheat fermentation have higher levels of protein and dietary fiber than corn and lower levels of lipids/fat than corn.
Although other cereal grains, such as sorghum, or barley, can be used to produce ethanol, the predominant cereal grain used for ethanol production in the United States is corn and in Canada majority of the ethanol is produced from wheat.
Potential health uses for DDG
Grains such as wheat, maize, rice, corn, barley, sorghum and the food made from them provide energy and protein to humans worldwide. All current dietary guidelines recommend cereal foods to be the largest component of the daily food intake.
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