{"id":171220,"date":"2025-10-16T16:00:45","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T22:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/?p=171220"},"modified":"2025-11-05T18:29:54","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T00:29:54","slug":"tortillas-nixtamalization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/industrial-transformation\/tortillas-nixtamalization\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Make Corn Tortillas Sustainably?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Corn tortillas are a symbol of Mexican culture\u2014not only because they\u2019re a staple of our diet, but also because they embody our identity. To make them, there\u2019s a process called nixtamalization<\/strong>, which originated around 3,500 years ago<\/a> in Mesoamerica. Now, a group of women researchers is working to modernize part of this process to make it more sustainable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The goal is to reduce water and energy consumption and eliminate polluting effluents by replacing one of its components\u2014while preserving tradition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNixtamalization is part of Mexico\u2019s intangible cultural heritage, so with this proposal we can help ensure it endures for future generations,\u201d says Marcela Gayt\u00e1n,<\/a> research professor and head of the Carbohydrate Chemistry and Functionality Laboratory at the Faculty of Chemistry, Universidad Aut\u00f3noma de Quer\u00e9taro<\/a> (UAQ).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although corn and tortillas<\/a> exist in other regions of the Americas, the Mexican way of making them\u2014flat, thin, soft, and crafted from nixtamalized dough\u2014is unique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nixtamalization offers many advantages<\/a>: it releases vitamin B3, increases calcium bioavailability, improves flavor and texture, and removes toxic substances produced by fungi that grow on stored corn kernels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the traditional method consumes a large amount of water<\/a><\/strong>\u2014approximately three liters per kilogram of corn\u2014and produces an effluent called nejayote<\/a>, which has a highly alkaline pH, a high solid content, and an elevated oxygen demand, polluting water sources when discharged into drainage systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why Gayt\u00e1n began working twenty years ago on a project to transform nixtamalization<\/a> into a more eco-friendly process through emerging technologies<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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