Zea mays/Maize is also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The leafy stalk of the plant produces pollen inflorescences and separate ovuliferous inflorescences called ears that yield kernels or seeds, which are fruits.

Maize has become a staple food in many parts of the world, with the total production of maize surpassing that of wheat or rice. In addition to being consumed directly by humans (often in the form of masa), maize is also used for corn ethanol, animal feed and other maize products, such as corn starch and corn syrup.^[4] The six major types of maize are dent corn, flint corn, pod corn, popcorn, flour corn, and sweet corn.^[rx] Sugar-rich varieties called sweet corn are usually grown for human consumption as kernels, while field corn varieties are used for animal feed, various corn-based human food uses (including grinding into cornmeal or masa, pressing into corn oil, and fermentation and distillation into alcoholic beverages like bourbon whiskey), and as chemical feedstocks. Maize is also used in making ethanol and other biofuels.

Corn scientifically known as Zea mays is also referred to as maize is a large grain plant first domesticated about 10,000 years ago by indigenous peoples in Mexico. The word maize is derived from the Spanish form of the indigenous Taíno word for the plant, mahiz. It is known by different names around the world. Some popular common names of Corn are Field Corn, Annual Teosinte, Blue Corn, Corn, Turkish Wheat Grain Maize, Maize, Sweet Corn, Mealie, Indian corn, Pop Corn, Turkish Corn and Cultivated Maize. The major types of corn are Sweet maize, Dent maize, Floury maize, flint maize, Blue corn, Waxy maize, Pignoletto, Pop maize,  Japanese striped maize, Ottofile, Nostrano Dell’Isola. Even though considered as a vegetable, it is in reality a food grain.

Corn Scientific Classification

Scientific Name: Zea mays

Plant

Corn is tall monoecious annual grass sized 3 m (10 ft.) in height is found growing in tropical and subtropical regions around the world. Normally it prefers well drained, well-aerated, deep soils that contain sufficient organic matter and well supplied with other nutrients. Corn has rough fibrous root system that spreads widely and penetrates deeply and single erect stem made up of nodes and internodes, stem is commonly composed of 20 internodes of 18 cm (7.1 in) length. Leaves are alternate, with broad, sword-shaped leaf blades, parallel veins. Upper surface is hairy, lower surface hairless 50–100 cm long by 3–7 cm wide. Corn plant has separate male and female flowers on the same plant. On the branches, only female organs (called ears) develop in the florets while the male part of the flower (the tassel) produces pollen and is at the top of the plant.

Fruit

Even though considered as a vegetable, it is, in reality, a food grain. The leafy stalk of the plant provides ears that have the grains known as kernels. For each kernel on the cob, there exists a strand of silk. The white and yellow kernels are most widely used, however nowadays corn can be found in blackish, bluish-gray, purple, green, red, white, and yellow depending on the varieties. Pericarp and testa are fused to form the fruit wall. Fruit is also called kernel or grain and seed.  An ear commonly holds 800 kernels in 16 rows. Apart from its delightful taste, it is found used in numerous food items around the world.

History

Maize is considered to have originated from Mesoamerica, probably in the Mexican highlands from where it spread. Different Archaeological data and phylogenetic investigations recommended that domestication of maize in Mexico began at least 6,000 years ago (Piperno and Flannery 2001). Maize was spread around the world after the European discovery of the Americas in the fifteenth century. It is now cultivated worldwide. Maize is only known in cultivation and its exact genealogy remains unclear.

Types of Corn

Corn comes in four main types:

The sweet corn –  that you eat at cookouts comes in yellow, white, or a combination of the two colors, and it has a mildly sugary taste.

Popcorn – before you prepare it, has a soft, starchy center surrounded by a hard gold-colored shell. Inside is a tiny drop of water. When you heat popcorn in a pan or in your microwave, the moisture inside gives off steam. Pressure from the steam builds to the point where the kernel explodes, and the center opens into a fluffy white nugget.

Flint or Indian corn -is harder than sweet corn. It comes in red, white, blue, black, and gold. Flint corn grows in Central and South America. In the U.S., we use it mainly for fall decorations.

Dent corn – which comes in white and yellow, has a dent in the top of each kernel. Its main uses are animal feed and manufactured foods, like tortilla chips and grits.

Health benefits of Corn

Corn is quite popular food grain due to its delightful taste as well as a wide range of nutrients. Corn offers several health benefits because of the existence of top-quality nutrition within. Besides being a delightful addition to any meal, it’s also abundant with phytochemicals; also it offers protection against numerous long-term diseases.  Some of the well-researched and widespread health advantages of corn are highlighted below.

1. Controls insulin? is low or not working well. সহজ বাংলা: রক্তে চিনি বেশি থাকার রোগ।" data-rx-term="diabetes" data-rx-definition="Diabetes is a condition where blood sugar stays too high because insulin is low or not working well. সহজ বাংলা: রক্তে চিনি বেশি থাকার রোগ।">diabetes? and hypertension?

The world seemed to suffer from an epidemic of insulin? is low or not working well. সহজ বাংলা: রক্তে চিনি বেশি থাকার রোগ।" data-rx-term="diabetes" data-rx-definition="Diabetes is a condition where blood sugar stays too high because insulin is low or not working well. সহজ বাংলা: রক্তে চিনি বেশি থাকার রোগ।">diabetes? in recent decades. Though the exact mechanism for this cannot be identified, it is usually supposed to relate to nutrition.  Consumption of more organic fruits and vegetables, like corn, has been supposed to be a return to an older style of diet, and it has been related to reducing signs of diabetes.  Studies have revealed that the consumption of corn kernels assists in the management of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) and is effective against hypertension? due to the occurrence of phenolic phytochemicals in whole corn. Phytochemicals can regulate the absorption and release of insulin in the body, which can decrease the coincidental of spikes and drops for diabetic patients and help them maintain a more normal lifestyle.(1), (2)

2. Lowers LDL Cholesterol?

According to the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, consumption of corn husk oil lowers plasma LDL cholesterol? by reducing cholesterol absorption within the body. As stated prior, this reduction of LDL cholesterol does not mean a reduction in HDL cholesterol, which is considered “good cholesterol” and can have a variety of helpful effects on the body, including the decrease of heart disease, avoidance of atherosclerosis, and a general scavenger of free radicals all through the body.(3), (4)

3. Beauty benefits

Corn starch is found used in the manufacturing of several cosmetic products and may also be used topically to calm skin rashes as well as irritation. Corn products are used to substitute carcinogenic petroleum products that are the main constituents of several cosmetic preparations. Most of the traditional skin creams consist of petroleum jelly as a base material that can frequently block pores and make skin conditions even worse.(5)

4. Prevents Anemia?

Anemia? is caused due to deficiency of vitamins which is healed by the use of corn. Corn also has a substantial level of iron, which is one of the crucial minerals required to form new red blood cells; a deficiency in iron is also one of the chief reasons of anemia as well.(6)

5. the Rich source of calories

Corn is a rich source of calories and is a staple among dietary habits in many inhabitants. The calorific content of corn is 342 calories per 100 grams, which is among the highest for cereals. That’s why corn is frequently used for quick weight gain, and combined with the ease and flexibility of growing conditions for corn; the high calorie content makes it vital for the survival of dozens of agricultural-based nations.(7)

How to Eat

• Young, immature cobs of the sweet corn type are used as vegetables.
• Young female inflorescences are enjoyed as a decorative vegetable in stir-fries or salad in Western countries and in Asia.
• Sweet corn kernels are boiled or steamed and often used as a pizza topping, in salads or garnishes.
• Raw unripe kernels may also be shaved off the cobs and processed into a variety of cooked dishes, such as maize purée, cure, tamales, ice creams, Damon has, cakes etc.
• Corn on the cob is a sweet corn cob that has been boiled, steamed, or grilled whole; the kernels are then eaten directly off the cob or cut off.
• Creamed corn is sweet corn kernels served in a milk or cream sauce or in soups.
• In Mexico, immature corn smut galls are relished as an edible delicacy known as huitlacoche.
• Roasted dried maize cobs with complete semi-hardened kernels, coated with a seasoning mixture of fried chopped spring onions with salt added to the oil, is a prevalent snack food in Vietnam.
• Another very common type of corn is popcorn which bursts when heated into puffed, fluffy corn that is a popular snack food consumed all over the world.
• Cancha a homemade Andean snack consists of toasted corn kernels which pop without puffing and is made from special large-grained corn called maize couple.
• Dried maize kernels are also processed into hominy or nixtamal or by soaking and cooking in an alkali solution generally lime and hulled.
• Candice a popular Brazilian dessert is made by boiling maize kernels in sweetened milk.
• Tepache, maize beer also known as chichi, is a light refreshing beer, made from maize kernels and is consumed throughout Mexico.
• Chicha a fermented and alcoholic drink and chichi Morada (purple chicha) a soft drink are made from special varieties of maize and consumed in Peru.
• Bourbon whisky is made from purée that contains more than 51% of corn.
• Corn flakes made from milled corn are widely consumed as a crispy breakfast cereal, prevalent in North America and the United Kingdom, and in many other countries all over the world.
• Maize meal (ground dried maize) is made into numerous types of porridge or cooked corn meals in various cultures such as polenta in Italy, mealie pap in South Africa, mămăligă (porridge of yellow corn) of Romania, sadza, nshima, and ugali in other parts of Africa, and in Brazil, hominy in the southeastern USA or cornmeal mush in other parts of USA.
• Maize dough or corn flour is used as a replacement for wheat flour, to make cornbread as well as other baked products.
• An unleavened cornbread called Makki di roti is prevalent bread consumed in the Punjab region of India and Pakistan.
• Masa or corn dough is made from newly prepared hominy and is used for making corn tortillas, tostadas, tamales, atole, pupusas, pozole, arepas, pinole, and many other Latin American dishes.
• Corn starch is extensively used for a number of purposes in cooking, as in the making of desserts and the thickening of soups and gravy.
• Maize is also a major source of cooking oil and of maize gluten.

Other Facts

• Corn oil besides being edible is also used in the manufacture of soaps and paints.
• Starch from maize can also be made into adhesives, fabrics, plastics, and many other chemical products.
• Corn starch is also used widely for laundry purposes.
• A sticky gum containing dextrin is used for sealing envelops, as well as on gummed labels.
• Corn is used for making alcohol.
• Cobs are used to supply potash, and by distillation, they can be made to produce acetic acid and acetone.
• Maize meal is an important component of some commercial animal food products, such as dog food.
• In industrialized countries, corn is used for animal feed, directly in the form of grain and forage, fodder, silage.
• Numerous aerial parts of the corn plant can be used for ethanol biofuel production.
• Corncobs can be hollowed out and treated to make cheap smoking pipes.
• The brown dye can be obtained from the cob.
• Sheaths of the cob are used in formatting and paper making and as wrappers for cigarettes in parts of America and roots in Myanmar.
• Dry corn stalks are used to build fences.
• Maize kernels and cobs are also used as a biomass fuel source and are comparatively cheap and home-heating furnaces have been developed which use maize kernels as a fuel.
• Maize is used as a fish bait, called “dough balls”.
• Maize kernels are used in place of sand in a sandbox-like enclosure for kid’s play.

Corn – Zea mays Facts

Corn also referred to as maize, is actually a huge grain plant that is believed to have originated from Mexico as well as Central America. Even though considered as a vegetable, it is, in reality, a food grain. It is found growing in well-aerated, deep soils containing sufficient organic matter and well supplied with important nutrients. It is nutrients dense grain food and offers protection against several long-term diseases.

References