Estudio de la permeabilidad al vapor de agua de biopeliculas de pericarpio de maíz nixtamalizado aplicando un método fototérmico

In the present work the water vapor permeability of corn grain pericarps, subjected to the traditional nixtamalization process, was studied. Information on the degradation level of pericarp, caused by the nixtamalization process, can be obtained by the study of this property. The pericarps were obtained from nixtamalized corn grains in an aqueous solution with 1% of Ca(OH)2 concentration regarding the corn weight. The water vapor permeability of these pericarps, exposed to different relative humidities, it was studied by means of a photothermal configuration and supplemented with a micro structural analysis of the sample su rfaces. The microscopic analysis reveals a correlation between the photothermal measures and the degradation of the nixtamalized corn pericarp.