Calories in Flour, corn, yellow, fine meal, enriched

What makes flour so powerful?

Yellow cornmeal is simply dried corn ground to a fine consistency, but unlike its cousin masa harina, it has not undergone nixtamalization. Nixtamalization is an ancient Mesoamerican process where corn is soaked and cooked in an alkaline solution, usually limewater. This process unlocks bound niacin (vitamin B3), making it bioavailable and preventing the nutritional deficiency disease pellagra. Because regular cornmeal skips this step, its naturally occurring niacin remains chemically bound and largely unavailable for absorption. To compensate for the loss of nutrients during the milling process—which strips away the nutrient-dense germ and bran—manufacturers enrich this fine meal with added iron, thiamin, riboflavin, and free-form niacin. The yellow color comes from carotenoids like lutein and zeaxanthin, which are concentrated in the endosperm. While it provides a tender crumb and sweet corn flavor in baking, it lacks the gluten-forming proteins of wheat flour, meaning it cannot trap gas to leaven bread on its own and must be paired with wheat flour or chemical leaveners for structure.