END-USE QUALITY OF SOME AFRICAN CORN KERNELS .2. COOKING BEHAVIOR OF WHOLE DRY-MILLED MAIZE FLOURS - INCIDENCE OF STORAGE

The pasting behavior of whole maize flours from 21 African maize culti vars (five local ecotypes and 16 new cultivars) was determined and com pared to that of market flours from Cotonou (Benin). More viscous past es were obtained from local ecotypes that were more friable and gave f iner flours. Characteristics of solvent (concentration and composition ) and dispersed (volume fraction, swelling power) phases of the pastes were determined: paste viscosity increased with the volume fraction o f the dispersed phase and with its rigidity (evaluated by dry matter c oncentration of dispersed material), whereas solvent phase did not pla y any direct role on overall paste viscosity. Flour storage promoted t he formation of fatty acids that could complex amylose during paste co oling; therefore, amylose solubility decreased after flour storage for several months, and paste viscosity at 50 degrees C increased due to some hardening of swollen particles.