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Commercial Evaluation Of A Continuous Micronutrient Fortification Process For Nixtamal Tortillas, Michael L. Dunn, Sergio O. Serna-Saldivar, Diana Sanchez-Hernandez, Robert W. Griffin

Faculty Publications

The corn tortilla plays an integral role in the Mexican diet and is an ideal vehicle for micronutrient fortification. Approximately 60% of corn tortillas in Mexico are produced from nixtamal, with the remainder prepared from masa flour. A process for continuous fortification of nixtamal tortillas was evaluated in two commercial mills in Mexico. A commercial powder dosifier was used to add micronutrient premix containing iron, zinc, folic acid, niacin, riboflavin, and thiamin to nixtamal (1 g/kg) as it was milled. After training and preliminary sampling, mills produced fortified tortillas unassisted for four weeks. Masa flow rates over a four-day period …