Introduction:

The extruded products in Cuba are produced from corn meal, a raw material obtained from imported corn grain. Extrusion technology allows the production of products from flour mixtures.

Objective:

To determine the adequate proportion of the corn and rice flour mixture and the extruder operating temperature.

Materials and Methods:

A granulometric analysis of both flours was made. Mixtures of corn flour (M) and rice four (A) were prepared. An industrial extruder with a capacity of 200 kg/h and a nozzle diameter of 4 mm was used. The experimental variables were M/A ratio (90 M/10 A, 75 M/25 A y 60 M/40 A) and temperature (190 y 210 °C). The investigated variables were expansion and humidity as well as those corresponding to the sensorial evaluation.

Results and Discussion:

Rice flour shows a finer granulometry than corn flour; this may limit its level of addition to the mixture. The investigated variables were found to be independent of temperature, but dependent on the proportion of the flours. From the desirability function, the best result was obtained for 60 M/40 A and 190 ºC.

Conclusions:

Corn and rice flours have similar starch content. The level of rice flour addition is determined by the incorporation of smaller particle sizes into the mixture. The overall sensory quality, according to the desirability function, was 7.4, equivalent to good.

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