Author
Adviser
Maize is one of the top staples in the Philippines and worldwide. Various technologies are being developed to enhance its nutritional quality. Nixtamalization is the method of cooking maize in alkaline solution to soften the pericarp and prepare it for processing into tortillas and flour. IPB Var 6 Quality Protein Maize (QPM) is a genetically modified corn containing the essential amino acids lysine and tryptophan. Combining the possible benefits of QPM and nixtamalization, Ilocos-style crunchy corn snack was developed. Results show that nixtamalization hastened the process of crunchy corn production. The developed product had significant differences with both untreated QPM and control samples in terms of taste (t=0.04, 0.0125) and texture (t=0.0118, 0.0462). It also held crunchiness the longest and had a significantly high score among all samples (Hcrit=0.007, 0.036). Further analysis and product evaluation is recommended to confirm the potential benefit it can bring to both manufacturers and consumers.