Home Today Is Maize Is An Indian Word Meaning “Sacred Mother,” Or “Giver Of Life.”

Maize Is An Indian Word Meaning “Sacred Mother,” Or “Giver Of Life.”

Maize Day, on the day after Thanksgiving, recognizes the importance of a plant common across the Americas.

  • The European settlers began grinding corn kernels to make meal that was later used to make bread.
  • colonial farmers also found that different parts of the plant had a number of useful by-products and purposes. They used cobs to start fires and to fuel slow-burning fires.
  • They used husks to make brooms and chair bottoms as well as to pad mattresses and collars for draft animals.
  • Maize was the first-ever crop to be domesticated by Native Americans and this impressive crop is now used in numerous types of food including chewing gum, bread, corn flakes, and popcorn.
  • Maize is an Indian word meaning “sacred mother,” or “giver of life.”
  • The ear or cob is part of the flower, while the individual kernel is a seed.
  • The average ear has 800 kernels in 16 rows.
  • A cob will always have an even number of rows.
  • There are over 3,500 different uses for corn products.
  • The grain is used as a major ingredient in many food items like cereals, potato chips, cooking oil, and more.
  • Even juices and soft drinks contain sweeteners from the grain. A bushel (about 56 pounds) can sweeten 400 cans of soft drink.
  • Corn and its by products are also found in many non-food items such as fireworks, rust preventatives, glue, paint, dyes, laundry detergent, soap, aspirin, antibiotics, shoe polish, ink, cosmetics, the manufacturing of photographic film, and in the production of plastics.
  • In 2014, the United States produced 35% of the worlds maize, while China produced 21%.
  • Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Minnesota, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Michigan, Missouri, Kansas and Kentucky make up the “Corn Belt,” a region that has the ideal conditions to grow the crop.
  • In the days of the early North American settlers, corn was so valuable that it was used as money and traded meat and furs.
  • Maize is believed to be a human invention, domesticated from a grass called teosinte about 7,000 years ago. Read more.
  • The grain can be produced in many colors including blackish, blue-gray, purple, green, red, white and yellow.
  • The maximum size of kernels is about 1 inch.
  • It takes 91 gallons of water to produce one pound of corn.
  • One acre of corn eliminates 8 tons of carbon dioxide from the air.
  • The six major types of corn are dent corn, flint corn, pod corn, popcorn, flour corn, and sweet corn.
  • Corn is a cereal crop that is part of the grass family.
  • An ear or cob of corn is actually part of the flower and an individual kernel is a seed.
  • A bushel is a unit of measure for volumes of dry commodities such as shelled corn kernels. 1 Bushel of corn is equal to 8 gallons.
  • The corn’s scientific name is Zea mays.
  • Most processed foods contain corn. To name a few, those are cereals, potato chips, ice cream, baby food, peanut butter, mayonnaise, marshmallows, cooking oil, margarine, salad dressing, and chewing gum.
  • The top 5 countries that spent the most on imported corn during 2019 are Japan with $3.5 billion, followed by Mexico ($3.1 billion), South Korea ($2.4 billion), Spain ($2 billion), and Vietnam ($1.9 billion).
  • One cup of corn (145 grams) has 125 calories.
  • One cup of corn (145 grams) has 2 grams of fat.
  • One cup of corn (145 grams) has no cholesterol.
  • One cup of corn (145 grams) has 22 milligrams of sodium (salt).
  • One cup of corn (145 grams) has 27 grams of carbohydrates.
  • One cup of corn (145 grams) has 5 grams of protein.
  • One cup of corn (145 grams) has 3 milligrams of calcium, 1 milligram of iron and 390 milligrams of potassium.

Sources:

National Day Calendar

Days of the Year

Ag Hires

Science Kids

Facts

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