"Corn" redirects here. For other uses, see Corn (disambiguation) and Maize (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Maze.
Maize
Includes male and female flowers
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Plantae
Clade:
Tracheophytes
Clade:
Angiosperms
Clade:
Monocots
Clade:
Commelinids
Order:
Poales
Family:
Poaceae
Subfamily:
Panicoideae
Genus:
Zea
Species:
Z. mays
Binomial name
Zea mays
L.
Maize/meɪz/ (Zea mays), also known as corn in North American and Australian English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native Americans planted it alongside beans and squashes in the Three Sisters polyculture. The leafy stalk of the plant gives rise to male inflorescences or tassels which produce pollen, and female inflorescences called ears. The ears yield grain, known as kernels or seeds. In modern commercial varieties, these are usually yellow or white; other varieties can be of many colors.
Maize relies on humans for its propagation. Since the Columbian exchange, it has become a staple food in many parts of the world, with the total production of maize surpassing that of wheat and rice. Much maize is used for animal feed, whether as grain or as the whole plant, which can either be baled or made into the more palatable silage. Sugar-rich varieties called sweet corn are grown for human consumption, while field corn varieties are used for animal feed, for uses such as cornmeal or masa, corn starch, corn syrup, pressing into corn oil, alcoholic beverages like bourbon whiskey, and as chemical feedstocks including ethanol and other biofuels.
Maize is cultivated throughout the world; a greater weight of maize is produced each year than any other grain. In 2020, world production was 1.1 billion tonnes. It is afflicted by many pests and diseases; two major insect pests, European corn borer and corn rootworms, have each caused annual losses of a billion dollars in the US. Modern plant breeding has greatly increased output and qualities such as nutrition, drought, and tolerance of pests and diseases. Much maize is now genetically modified.
As a food, maize is used to make a wide variety of dishes including Mexican tortillas and tamales, Italian polenta, and American hominy grits. Maize protein is low in some essential amino acids, and the niacin it contains only becomes available if freed by alkali treatment. In Mesoamerica, maize is personified as a maize god and depicted in sculptures.
^Contreras, A.; Ruíz Corral, J. A.; Menjívar, J.; Aragón Cuevas, F.; González Ledesma, M.; Sánchez, J. J. (2019). "Zea mays". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: E.T77726273A77726310. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-2.RLTS.T77726273A77726310.en.
Maize /meɪz/ (Zea mays), also known as corn in North American and Australian English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated...
Maize flour or corn flour is a flour ground from dried maize (corn). It is a common staple food, and is ground to coarse, medium, and fine consistencies...
Kellee Maize is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. Her first album, Age of Feminine, was released in 2007. Maize has recorded and released six...
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Genetically modified maize (corn) is a genetically modified crop. Specific maize strains have been genetically engineered to express agriculturally-desirable...
list of maize dishes, in which maize (corn) is used as a primary ingredient. Additionally, some foods and beverages that are prepared with maize are listed...
Corn kernels are the fruits of corn (called maize in many countries). Maize is a grain, and the kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable or a source...
Cornflour, cornstarch, maize starch, or corn starch (American English) is the starch derived from corn (maize) grain. The starch is obtained from the endosperm...
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types of porridge have their own names, such as congee (rice), polenta (maize) and poi (from Taro). Porridge can be eaten for any meal of the day. Porridge...
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Mesoamerican peoples, the traditional Maya recognize in their staple crop, maize, a vital force with which they strongly identify. This is clearly shown...
known as mealie meal or maize meal, is a relatively coarse flour (much coarser than cornflour or cornstarch) made from maize or mealies in Southern Africa...
thin, unleavened flatbread, made from hominy, that is the whole kernels of maize treated with alkali to improve their nutrition in a process called nixtamalization...
trials later on showed that waxy maize could produce more efficient feed gains than normal dent maize, interest in waxy maize suddenly expanded. Geneticists...
the endosperm. It consists of the combined aleurone and pericarp. Corn (maize) bran also includes the pedicel (tip cap). Along with the germ, it is an...
Nixtamalization (/ˌnɪkstəməlɪˈzeɪʃən/) is a process for the preparation of maize, or other grain, in which the grain is soaked and cooked in an alkaline...
The maize weevil (Sitophilus zeamais), known in the United States as the greater rice weevil, is a species of beetle in the family Curculionidae. It can...
the fungus forms galls on all above-ground parts of corn species such as maize and teosinte. The infected corn is edible; in Mexico, it is considered a...
Pod corn or wild maize is a variety of maize (corn). It is not a wild ancestor of maize but rather a mutant that forms leaves around each kernel. Pod corn...
in the subfamily Panicoideae, in the tribe Andropogoneae – the same as maize (Zea mays), big bluestem (Andropogon gerardi), and sugarcane (Saccharum...
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