Process for producing a high total dietary corn fiber

Claim 1

A continuous process for producing a corn fiber product having a high dietary fiber content which comprises: (a) diluting crude fiber obtained from the corn wet-milling process with water to give an aqueous slurry of crude corn fiber with a solids concentration of from about 2% to about 5% by weight; (b) passing said aqueous slurry of crude corn fiber through a hydroclone with the operating pressure of said hydroclone adjusted so that from about 65% to about 75% of the volume of the aqueous slurry entering the hydroclone exits in the overflow stream from the hydroclone; (c) passing said overflow stream from the hydroclone into a centrifugal paddle screen having screen openings of from about 2 mm to about 4 mm, and clearance between the screen and the paddles from about 6 mm to about 15 mm; and (d) washing the solid separated by the centrifugal paddle screen to give a corn fiber fraction of high dietary fiber content.