Mexican Foods: What Can be Done to Preserve Traditions, Health and the Environment?

Mexican food is an interesting example of the blend of two cultures. One of the most outstanding food processing of our pre-hispanic ancestors is maize lime cooking or nixtamalization. Economic, social and environmental sustainability criteria such as commercial opportunities, use of materials and employment creation are very important factors that should be considered as indicators of sustainability. Nixtamalization generates a waste stream that contains phytochemicals that can be extracted to generate active principles such as ferulic acid derivatives. Additionally, it is a fiber source and calcium that can be used to enrich bakery products without detrimental effects on color of flavor. Ferulic acid is one of the bioactive compounds that can be recovered from this waste stream and converted into different conjugated forms to improve its functionality.