Surprising facts about Corn

Do you know, corn is also known by another name called “Maize” in many countries in the world. Maize word is derived from the Spanish word ‘Maiz’.

An ear of corn has approximately 800 kernels which are placed in nearly 16 rows.

You will be surprised to know that each cob of corn will always even number of rows on them.

Corn is a cereal crop that belongs to the grass family in which an ear or cob of corn is part of the flower whereas the individual kernel is actually a seed.

Do you know, corn is produced on every continent of the world where human beings can live except Antarctica where conditions are not favorable for them to sustain.

There are more than 3,500 different kinds of products produced from corn are produced for human and animal consumption in the world.

Do you know, corn is used as a sweetener and a bushel (8 gallons) of corn can sweeten 400 cans of soft drinks like Coca-cola, Pepsi, etc.

In United States, there is an area called the ‘Corn belt” where corn is grown in large quantities due to favorable conditions. This corn belt area mainly includes the states of Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Minnesota, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Michigan, Missouri, Kansas, and Kentucky.

In ancient times corn was so valuable crop in North America that it was used in barter system for trading other products like meats and furs.

Yellow corn is the most common corn grown in the world but apart from yellow, various colors of corn are produced such as bluish-gray, green, purple, red, blackish, and white

The tallest sweet corn is grown by Jason Karl from Allegany, New York, the United States which is about 10.74 meters (35 feet & 2 inches) long, as Guinness World Records.

Do you know, it takes about 91 gallons of water to grow one pound of corn.

In 1930, Gleaner Harvester Combine Corporation of Independence, Missouri developed the first mechanical corn harvester for the harvesting of corn crops.

It is found that 8 tons of carbon dioxide from the air is absorbed by one acre of corn.

One cup of corn (5.11oz) has nearly 125 calories, 2 grams of fat, 22 milligrams (mg) of sodium (salt), 27 grams of carbohydrates, 5 grams of protein, 3 mg of calcium, 1 mg of iron, 390 mg of potassium and no cholesterol.

Do you know, the United States is the largest producer of corn. The corn production from countries such as the USA, China, Brazil, Argentina, Ukraine, and India constitutes nearly two-third of the total production of corn in the world.

In the United States, Iowa state is the biggest producer of corn, which produces nearly 2.5 billion bushels of corn from 85 % of its agricultural land. Hence, also known as “The Corn State”.

Do you know, Japan spends about $3.5 billion more than any country in the world to import corn mostly for feeding animals.

Corn on the cob is a vegetable but the corn kernel is a grain that is regarded as fruit in the form of most famous food, popcorn in the world.

In Mexico, Maize is a staple food of Mexican cuisine and the main ingredient for dishes like tortillas, atole, tacos, quesadillas, chilaquiles, enchiladas, tostadas and many more.

The United States consumes around 1/40th of the total production of corn for human consumption only.

Professor Atom

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Professor Atom is a science enthusiast and alumni of IIT Bombay. According to him, every question can be solved with curiosity and mind mapping. ( Curiosity = Asking Questions = Learning )

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