Corn refining began in the United States around the time of the civil war with the development of the process for corn starch hydrolysis. Prior to this time, the main sources for starch had been wheat and potatoes. In 1844, the Wm. Colgate & Company wheat starch plant in Jersey City, N.J., became the first dedicated corn starch plant in the world. By 1857, the corn starch industry reached significant proportions in the U.S. Starch was the only product of the corn refining industry. Its largest customer was the laundry business.

The next major event in the history of corn refining was the production of dextrose from corn starch in 1866. This industrial application and subsequent developments in the chemistry of sugars served as early scientific links to a growing body of starch technology. Other product developments in corn sweeteners took place more than 15 years later with the first manufacture of refined corn sugar or anhydrous sugar in 1882.

Around the same time, the industry also began to realize the value of the non-starch parts of corn. Fiber, germ and protein from the corn had simply been discarded until manufacturers discovered they could turn them into valuable animal feed ingredients. Corn gluten feed was first manufactured in 1882. The industry then discovered that corn oil could be extracted from the germ. The first commercial production of corn oil took place in 1889. Then in 1893, the industry began to recover the steepwater used to release the starch in the refining process and condense it to use in feed products.

Major strides in starch chemistry and the introduction of modified food starches, as well as many important process refinements took place in the early 1900's. In 1900, the manufacture of thin boiling starches was introduced and chlorinated starches were introduced about 15 years later.

Corn syrup technology advanced significantly with the introduction of enzyme-hydrolyzed products. In 1921, crystalline dextrose hydrate was introduced. Then in the mid-1950's, the technology for commercially preparing low conversion products such as maltodextrin and low DE syrups was developed. The purification and crystallization of dextrose meant for the first time that corn based sweeteners could compete in some markets that had been the sole domain of the sugar industry.

The next developments involved enzyme catalyzed isomerization of dextrose to fructose. The first commercial shipment of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) took place in 1967. The fructose content of the syrup was around 15 percent. Further research enabled the industry to develop a higher conversion and the first commercial shipment of HFCS-42 or 42 percent fructose syrup took place a year later. Further refinements in the process were developed in the late 1970's and by the mid 1980's, HFCS became the sweetener of choice for the soft drink industry in the U.S.

The production of ethanol by corn refiners began after World War II, but major quantities were not manufactured until the 1970's. Several corn refiners began fermenting dextrose to make beverage and industrial alcohol. Corn refiners' entry into the fermentation business is key to some of the major changes the industry will see in the future. The industry began to develop an expertise in industrial microbiology.

Today, starch, glucose and dextrose are still core products of the wet milling industry. But the products of microbiology ­ fructose, ethanol, food additives and chemicals ­ have overshadowed them. New technology and research has significantly expanded the industry's product portfolio. Advances in process engineering and biotechnology have enabled refiners to become low-cost suppliers of basic food and chemical ingredients opening new markets in the food and industrial sectors. Over the past couple of decades major developments of the industry include:

*Ethanol as a motor fuel
*HFCS reaching a near-par with sugar consumption
*Specialty sweeteners such as crystalline fructose
*Food and feed additives such as vitamins, lysine, tryptophane and others
*Organic acids for industrial and food use
*Degradable replacements for chemical products


Corn refiners will continue this dynamic product evolution by combining technologies rooted in the history of the industry with new technologies from outside the industry to create new markets and greater product diversity.