| abstract |
A food product suitable for human consumption, having acceptable flavor and nutritional value, is recovered from cereal grain residues remaining after alcohol fermentation. The food product of the invention is produced by controlling the pH at a range of 4.0-5.0 of the various enzymic conversions of starch to alcohol using only certain organic and inorganic acids which avoid imparting unacceptable mineral acid tastes to the finished product. The preferred acid is citric acid. The pH of the slurry residues before drying to a finished product must be neutralized to about 5.0-8.0. Again, satisfactory taste of the finished product is achieved by carefully selecting the neutralizing agent, typically hydroxides or oxides of Na, K or Ca. Resulting products are characterized as containing only salts from acids used to adjust pH which are taste acceptable. The product forms a 1:10 aqueous suspension having a pH of about 5.0-8.0. In addition, the products include ions from the neutralizing agents, typically three times higher in concentration than concentrations for the same ions in the grain feedstock. The neutralizing ions are individually selected and are of such a concentration which produces food products that are acceptable in taste and are not toxic to humans. |