Mesoamerican Nixtamalization and the Science of Ancient Maize Masa
How a 3,500-year-old alkaline soak unlocked a nutrient-locked seed and gave the tortilla its puff
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Nixtamalization is the alkaline chemistry Mesoamerican civilizations used to unlock corn: simmering dried maize in slaked lime until the pericarp dissolves, niacin becomes bioavailable, and fungal mycotoxins are largely neutralized. From the defensive anatomy of the kernel and the physics of the volcanic stone mill to the dual-phase starch colloid that gives masa its stretch and the three-stage thermodynamics behind a tortilla's puff.
- Kernel Anatomy & Chemistry
- Alkaline Hydrolysis
- Nutritional Bioavailability
- Starch Rheology & Masa Physics
- Mycotoxin Decontamination
- Thermodynamics of the Tortilla Puff
- Industrial Standardization
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