CONTROLE DE QUALIDADE NA INDÚSTRIA DE EXTRUSADOS EXPANDIDOS DE MILHO

Abstract

The present work presents as an object of study corn, which is a product found in practically every Brazilian's home. It is a grain grown in almost all continents and that placed Brazil in third place in world production. It allowed the manufacture of thousands of products, especially snacks, the target product of this research, which were consumed by people of all social classes and ages, including being highly appreciated by children, without contraindications. This product showed a significant increase in its consumption due to its ease of obtaining, low cost, varied flavors and formats. It is also very well regarded by its manufacturers, as it is cost-effective. The pandemic period that we went through also motivated this search, where people isolated themselves in their homes and started to consume more ready-made and industrialized products. This food was manufactured in a thermomechanical process equipment called an extruder. It has unlimited formats and flavors, at the discretion of its manufacturer and the consumer market to which it is intended. This work demonstrated the origin and importance of corn for human consumption, its ability to transform it into other products, the extruded food manufacturing processes and the controls involved in the process to guarantee the quality of the snacks finalprepared.