Corn is among the favorite foods of Bulgarians, especially during the summer season. Corn Health Benefits and Negatives ?This golden wheat gift is a clear example of a combination of excellent taste and usefulness for the body. It can be an excellent year-round addition to a variety of native and foreign dishes.
Maize (Zea mays ssp., Gramineae) is a type of cereal or cereal crop cultivated first in Mesoamerica (a region in North America stretching from Central Mexico to Honduras and Nicaragua) and then throughout America (North and South). .
It began to be grown in Europe in the XVI century during the so-called. “great geographical discoveries”, and only after a hundred years did it appear in India and China.
From the information about the origin of corn, you can guess that its largest production is in America. In the United States alone, it is about 270 million tons per year.
Two-thirds of world corn production is in the United States, China, Brazil and Mexico. In the Bulgarian language, corn has over 20 names in different dialects: Arabica, Wallachian, Gugula, pigeons, corn, Egypt, papur, Pashka, Pchenka, Rapka, Tsarka, etc ..
The corn plant reaches a height of more than human height (between 2 and 3 meters). The stem is thick and strong, and there are nodes on it, from which come out long and wide sword-shaped leaves.
At the top of the stem there is a branched panicle with small male flowers, and their pollen pollinates the female flowers, representing two or three cobs growing in the axils of the leaves.
Each cob is tightly wrapped with thin tough leaves. When delicate silk-like threads come out of the top of the cob, the female flowers have blossomed. With the help of the wind, the pollen falls on the sticky tips of the threads and pollinates them.
Then yellowish-red or white shiny grains are formed in the cobs – the seeds of corn. The corn is harvested after the silk has dried and the whole plant has turned yellow.
Table of Contents
Types of corn
The most common species in maize are the following:
- dent type corn
- flint corn
- waxy corn
- sweet or “green” corn
- popcorn
- Indian corn
- flour corn
Corn type “dent” (translated from English “tooth”), with the scientific name Zea mays indentata. It is also called “field” corn. This is a species whose nuts contain hard and soft starch and as they mature they form a tooth. Basic crop used for human and animal food, as well as in industrial products. This is the only type used in the production of corn starch.
Flint maize, known as Zea mays indurata, is a type of maize with hard, ridged, rounded or short and flat seeds with a soft starchy endosperm completely surrounded by a hard outer layer. It is identical to the previous one and is used for the same purposes. Most of it is grown in South America.
Waxy maize is maize with grains which, when cut, resemble wax and which contain starch only with a branched chain. Waxy corn starch contains over 99% amylopectin, while common corn – 72-76% amylopectin and 24-28% amylose.
Amylopectin is a starch with a high molecular weight branched chain, while amylose is a starch with a smaller unbranched or linear chain.
The waxy maize is treated by wet milling to obtain a waxy maize starch, which then slowly regains its crystalline form. It is grown to cover the needs of special starch for hardening food, especially those foods that are subject to large temperature changes during processing.
Sweet or “green” corn – eaten raw, canned or frozen. Different varieties are grown. It is usually associated with certain species (Zea saccharata or Zea rugosa), subspecies (Zea mays rugosa) or a specific mutation in Dent maize. It is characterized by the high sugar content of nuts in the dairy stage, in which they are fit for consumption.
Popcorn is a type of maize (Zea mays everta) with small nests and small pointed or round grains and very hard endosperm, which when exposed to higher temperatures burst when the moisture content is expelled and form a white starchy mass exceeding several times. the size of the primary nut.
Indian corn – found with white, red, purple, brown or colored grains. The original corn grown by the Indians, known by the scientific name Zea mays. It is often used for decoration during the harvest and Halloween holidays.
Flour corn, also known as “sweet” or “Indian” corn. The shape of its grains is the same as that of the “flint” type corn, as it is made almost entirely of soft starch. Its scientific name is Zea mays amylacea. In the United States, small amounts of blue flour are grown for cornbread, chips, and baked goods. In South America, this corn is grown in a variety of colors and is used in food and beer production.
Corn products There is no other cultivated plant in our country from which to produce as many products as from corn. The wonderful taste qualities of boiled corn and white popcorn are well known. Corn flour is used to make bread and porridge called kachamak or mamaliga.
Corn is used to make vegetable oil (margarine), which is as good as cow’s butter, as well as starch for desserts. In industry, alcohol, paper, and plastics are made from various parts of the corn plant; rubber from which car tires are made; man-made fibers from which fabrics are woven for clothing; various drugs (dextrin, medical glucose). The grain, stem and leaves of corn are excellent food for livestock. It is the second most important wheat plant in our country (after wheat) and it is used to sow large areas, from which high yields are obtained.
Nutritional composition of corn
Indicative content of substances in 100 g of food:
| Product | water in% | kcal | protein | g of fat. | g digestible carbon | g of phytosterols. | /mg of sugars | g of fiber |
| White sweet corn, boiled | 70% | 108 | 3.3 | 1.3 | 25.1 | – | 4.1 | 2.7 |
| Yellow sweet corn, boiled | 70% | 108 | 3.3 | 1.3 | 25.1 | – | 3.2 | 2.8 |
Health benefits
- Corn is a good source of vitamins B1 and B9;
- It imports mainly minerals: phosphorus and magnesium.
Health risks
Corn contains the so-called. lipid transfer protein – an indigestible protein that “survives” during cooking. It is associated with rare and not yet well-known allergies in humans to corn. The allergic reaction can cause skin rashes, swelling or itching of the mucous mucus, diarrhea, vomiting, asthma, and in severe cases – anaphylactic shock.
It is not yet clear how common this allergy is, but it is important to note that those who have it also have the so-called. peach allergy. The European Union has obliged food producers that contain corn to indicate it.
Preparation options Cooked:
Cooked: We have already talked about the most popular applications of corn worldwide. Undoubtedly, the ranking is headed by boiled corn, which can be consumed canned all year round, and in the summer in its most natural form.
Baked: Corn popcorn is a traditional food when we watch TV, go to the movies or walk down the street.
Boiled-roasted: There is also an option for boiled and then grilled corn, which gives it a more spicy taste.
Cooked in salads: Corn is widely used in various types of salads, and is especially important to be part of the famous Mexican salad. Boiled corn kernels are also placed in salads with tuna, pasta salad, various summer salads and more.
Soups and other dishes: The cereal is also used in combination with other vegetables, as well as stewed and consumed with them. Corn is also one of the main ingredients for foreign dishes such as paella and Peruvian soup.
With flour: Corn flour is the main product for the preparation of sweet cornbread and corn fruit pie, etc. pastries and pasta.
Sample recipes with corn
- broccoli, corn and mushrooms “> Low-calorie salad with broccoli, corn and mushrooms
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Tuna salad
- New Mexico Salad
- carrots, oatmeal and corn “> Cake with cottage cheese, carrots, oatmeal and corn
- Macho chicken (chicken fillet, peppers, green beans, corn)
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Corn Health Benefits and Negatives
