Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2007 Drivers of Liking and Effects of Corn Hybrics on Quality of Corn Tortilla Jose Andres Herrera Corredor Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the Life Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Herrera Corredor, Jose Andres, "Drivers of Liking and Effects of Corn Hybrics on Quality of Corn Tortilla" (2007). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 939. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/939 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. DRIVERS OF LIKING AND EFFECTS OF CORN HYBRIDS ON QUALITY OF CORN TORTILLA A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Food Science by José Andrés Herrera Corredor B.S., Universidad Autónoma Chapingo, 1995 M.S., Colegio de Postgraduados, 2001 December 2007 Dedicated to My parents Mr. Moisés Herrera Gallegos Mrs. Rosa Corredor García & Brothers and Sister Carlos, Hugo, Abel, and Alejandra ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I want to thank to CONACYT and Colegio de Postgraduados, institutions with a commitment to development of science and technology in Mexico, for their financial support. Furthermore, I would like to thank all the people who have involved in making these institutions to operate efficiently. This challenge could not have been accomplished without them. I am very grateful to my Major Professor, Dr. Witoon Prinyawiwatkul. There are no words to thank him for all his help, guidance, and support throughout my doctoral study at Louisiana State University. More than a professor, he is a great friend to whom I deeply respect and appreciate. I would like to thank the members of my committee: Dr. Zhimin Xu for being my co‐ major professor, Dr. Fred Shih from USDA for his encouragement during my study and support on pasting properties of samples, Dr. Joan King for her help on performing Differential Scanning Calorimetry, Dr. William Doerrler for serving as the Dean’s representative, and Dr. Manjit Kang for his friendship, teaching, and help on planting and obtaining samples of corn for this study. I would also like to thank the people from the Pioneer Hi‐Bred International, Inc. and Monsanto for kindly providing corn samples and also to the Mississippi lime for providing lime for this study. I would like to thank my parents (Moisés and Rosa), brothers (Carlos, Hugo and Abel), and sister (Alejandra) for all their endless love and unconditional support throughout all this time. I love you all. Also thanks are extended to my Uncle Feliciano for his encouraging words, support and camaraderie. iii I want to thank to my dear relatives: Uncle Roberto, Aunt Maria Nieves; my cousins Ignacio, Judith, Mirna, Arlenne, and Omar (†); my friends and colleagues Aquiles Carballo, Lauro Bucio, Susana Delgado, Alejandro Ortiz, Otto Leyva, Carlos Narciso, Alma Valle, Itzel Mendoza, Rosalba Zepeda, Carmen Padilla, Janette Saidu, Kim Daigle, Karen Garcia, Luciana Soler, Armen Khachatryan, Clara Rodriguez, Terri Gilmer, Bonnie Mann, Laura Savage, Shawn and Julie Foreman, Victor Romero, Yalma Vargas, Dennis Family (Mike, Denise, Holly and Melissa), Pamarin Waimaleongora‐Ek, Alfredo Prudente, Sonja Jones and Stephanie Lockwood ; and all of the students professors and staff in the Food Science Department, because you all have been part of this unforgettable experience. Thank you for your friendship and support. Finally, I truly want to thank God for letting me successfully get to the end of this great experience in the United States and Louisiana State University, which really is just the beginning of a new challenge in my life and career development. Andrés, December 2007 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................................. iii LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................................... ix LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................................. xi ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................................... xiii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Research Background ............................................................................................................ 2 1.2 Research Justification ........................................................................................................... 5 1.4 References ............................................................................................................................ 6 CHAPTER 2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE............................................................................................. 8 2.1 Corn Uses, and Nutritional Value .......................................................................................... 9 2.2 Corn Grain and Anatomical Composition ........................................................................... 11 2.2.1 Corn Grain .................................................................................................................... 11 2.2.2 Pericarp ........................................................................................................................ 12 2.2.3 Endosperm ................................................................................................................... 13 2.2.4 Germ ............................................................................................................................ 14 2.2.5 Tip (Pedicel) .................................................................................................................. 14 2.3 Corn Varieties ...................................................................................................................... 14 2.4 Corn Tortilla ........................................................................................................................ 16 2.4.1 Corn Tortilla Processing ............................................................................................... 17 2.4.2 Changes in Corn during Tortilla Processing ................................................................. 19 2.4.3 Effect of Lime on Corn Tortilla Quality ........................................................................ 20 2.4.4 Quality and Sensory Properties of Tortilla and Related Products ............................... 22 2.4.5 Alternative Methodologies to Alkaline‐cooking of Corn ............................................. 24 2.5 References .......................................................................................................................... 25 CHAPTER 3. IDENTIFYING DRIVERS FOR CONSUMER ACCEPTANCE AND PURCHASE INTENT OF CORN TORTILLA ....................................................................................................................... 33 3.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 34 3.2 Materials and Methods ....................................................................................................... 36 3.2.1 Samples of Corn Tortilla ............................................................................................... 36 3.2.2 Questionnaire and Consumer Testing ......................................................................... 38 3.2.3 Statistical Data Analysis ............................................................................................... 40 3.3 Results and Discussion ........................................................................................................ 41 3.3.1 Demographic and Product Information ....................................................................... 41 3.3.2 Differences Among Samples ........................................................................................ 41 3.3.3 Importance of Sensory Attributes in Predicting Acceptance and Purchase Intent ..... 45 3.4 Conclusions ......................................................................................................................... 50 3.5 References .......................................................................................................................... 50 v CHAPTER 4. IMPACT OF EDUCATION/PROFESSION ON ACCEPTANCE AND PURCHASE INTENT OF CORN TORTILLA ....................................................................................................................... 52 4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 53 4.2 Materials and Methods ....................................................................................................... 55 4.2.1 Samples of Corn Tortilla ..............................................................................................