As we approach the first day of summer, June 11th marks the calendar to celebrate National Corn on the Cob Day each year. Fresh corn on the cob is a summertime treat people from all corners of the United States look forward to as we start the picnic season.
- In most countries, corn is called maize.
- Maize is a native Taino word meaning “sacred mother,” or “giver of life.”
- Sweet corn leaves were used as chewing gum by Native Americans.
- Each cob of corn consists of usually 800 kernels that are arranged in 16 rows.
- The maximum size of kernels is about 1 inch.
- There are over 3,500 different uses for corn products.
- Corn can also be found in many non-food items such as fireworks, glue, paint, dyes, laundry detergent, soap, antibiotics, cosmetics, and in the production of plastics.
- Most processed foods contain corn, like cereals, potato chips, ice cream, baby food, peanut butter, mayonnaise, marshmallows, cooking oil, margarine, salad dressing, and chewing gum
- Corn is also used to produce ethanol (ethyl alcohol), a first-generation liquid biofuel.
- In the days of the early North American settlers, corn was so valuable that it was used as money and traded for meat and furs.
- Maize is believed to be a human invention, domesticated from a grass called teosinte about 7,000 years ago.
- 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.
- Corn was first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago.
- There are 86 calories in 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of corn.
- Health benefits of corn include controlling diabetes, prevention of heart ailments, lowering hypertension and prevention of neural-tube defects at birth.
- The antioxidants present in corn also act as anti-carcinogenic agents and prevent Alzheimer’s disease.
- Popcorn consists of kernels of certain varieties that explode when heated, forming fluffy pieces that are eaten as a snack.
- Corn is cholesterol free.
- Fresh corn on the cob will lose up to 40% of its sugar content after about 6 hours of room temperature storage. After that time period, the sugar is converted to starch.
- Corn is the 3rd most produced crop in the world, behind only wheat and rice, but in terms of planted acres, it’s second only to wheat.
- Corn is America’s number one field crop. Corn leads all other crops in value and volume of production
- One bushel equals 112 ears of corn, weighing 56 pounds.
- One bushel of corn can make 2.5 gallons of ethanol fuel, 33 pounds of sweetener or 32 pounds of starch.
- One bushel of corn will sweeten more than 400 cans of Coca-Cola.
- A pound of corn consists of approximately 1,300 kernels.
- Corns have six major types of corn. In detail, the six types are sweet corn, dent corn, pod corn, flour corn, flint corn, and popcorn.
- The most common color of corn is yellow. However, there many other varieties of colors of corn such as white, green, purple, red, blackish, orange, brown, pink, cream, and bluish-gray.
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