A huge amount of corn is grown all over the world, so this plant is truly priceless. Its grains are used for food and serve as an important element of the food industry in general, but the rest of the plant is used for a variety of purposes, in particular, they are used for processing and the manufacture of fertilizers. Today, corn is one of the first most popular places and is grown on all continents, with the exception of Antarctica.
- Corn is the staple food of the Mexicans and Indians. It is believed that it was first domesticated by the ancestors of modern Mexicans as early as 10 thousand years BC.
- Sometimes corn grows to a height of 7 meters. However, from a botanical point of view, it is a herb.
- Corn, although it is considered a dioecious plant, on same there are both male and female inflorescences. The male is a panicle on top, and the female is the cob in the leaf axils.
- Corn contains 26 elements of the periodic table and does not lose its beneficial properties even when canned.
- According to the Indian method, corn is planted with pumpkin, which protects the soil from weeds and does not allow excess moisture to evaporate, which helps to increase yields.
- Alone, corn does not bear fruit – only when planted in a group.
- Corn can only grow from seeds. If the whole ear falls to the ground, then most likely it will rot. Therefore, corn is not found in the wild.
- Interestingly, an ear of corn always contains an even number of flowers from which then an even number of seeds are formed. There are usually 8 to 22 rows on the cob of corn, and there are about a thousand seeds.
- We are used to the fact that the color of corn seeds is yellow. In fact, there are more than a thousand varieties of corn, and the color can be not only yellow but also white, red, purple, black, and even multi-colored.
- Some varieties of corn are grown solely for decorative purposes and not for human consumption.
- The first place in the world in terms of the volume of corn grown, almost 25% of world production, is occupied by the United States.
- Today, more than 500 different products are made from corn, using not only grains but also leaves, stalks, and cobs. Corn is used for animal feed, alcohol, paste, plastic, plaster, industrial filters, and much more.
- Corn can provide almost all the nutrients to the human body, so some people can eat corn alone and still feel good about themselves.
- One of the most unusual varieties of corn, Glass Gem, characterized by unusual translucent grains of different colors, is used to make jewelry.
- For the first time, corn seeds were brought to Europe by the famous navigator and discoverer Christopher Columbus.
- Thanks to archaeological finds, scientists have concluded that corn used to look very different. It was short and the ear was located at the top of the plant, and on top of the ear was a panicle. Such corn could be easily pollinated by the wind, and the seeds of the “bare” ear, scattering to the ground, giving shoots and life to the next generation of plants.
- In most European languages, this plant is called maize.
- Mexicans are the absolute leaders in the consumption of corn. The average Mexican eats about 90 kg of corn per year, the American 40, the Indian 4.
- Archaeologists claim that American Indians began eating popcorn at least five millennia ago. They mixed corn grains with sand and built a fire next to them.
- The corn must be boiled without salt, otherwise, it will become very tough.
- The goddess Kukuits of the Mayan pantheon was depicted as decorated with corn leaves.
- Old corn needs to be boiled for about 2 hours, and young corn only 15 minutes.
- The stamens of the female corn inflorescence, popularly known as its “hair”, is the most valuable product from the point of view of medicine. They are extremely rich in vitamins and minerals.
