Corn was introduced to Spain by Columbus. The Spanish called it Panizo, which means grain in Spanish.

What kinds of corn are there?

• Flint corn
  Flint corn is very hard and gets its name from flint, a hard type of stone. The colors of flint corn range from white to red. (Flint corn is also known as Indian corn.) Flint corn is commonly used for industrial purposes and livestock feed. Today, flint corn is widely grown in Asia, Europe, and Central and South America.

• Popcorn
  Popcorn is a special type of flint corn with hard, small kernels. The natural moisture inside the kernels turns to steam when heated, but the outer coat of the kernel is so hard that the moisture is trapped. This causes the steam to build up pressure until the kernel explodes. The wild ancestor of corn is believed to have been a type of popcorn. Today, the United States is responsible for producing almost all of the world's popcorn.

• Dent corn
  Dent corn is softer than flint corn. It has a dent in each kernel. Most kernels are yellow or white. It is commonly grown in North America and often used as livestock feed. It is also used to make many processed foods.

• Flour corn
  Flour corn has a very soft starchy kernel. It is easily ground and is used in baked goods. Flour and Flint corn were the chief types of corn raised by Native Americans. Today, it is used mostly for food by the people who grow it. It is one of the oldest kinds of corn.

• Sweet corn
  Sweet corn has more natural sugar than other types of corn. Today, it is eaten on the cob or it is stored frozen or canned. Most Native American tribes didn't grow sweet corn because they didn't like the sweet taste.

• Pod corn
  Pod corn is thought to have been the first type of corn grown. Each kernel grows in its own husk, so it is difficult to use without incorporating a lot of labor. It is raised today for scientific research.

Did you know...?

€ Corn provides nearly 20% of the world's food calories.

€ Corn is grown in Africa more widely than any other crop.

€ The United States grows 45% of the world's corn, much of which is processed into animal feed.

€ A bushel of corn yields 2.5 gallons of ethanol: a renewable fuel used instead of lead to raise gasoline octane levels.

€ More than 2000 supermarket products are sweetened with corn syrup, more than are sweetened with refined sugars.

Corn farming was probably introduced to Africa to supply cheap food for slave ships. Ironically, while Africa was losing people to slavery, the addition of corn to the African diet helped to fuel a population increase. Corn, which was easy to cultivate and grew rapidly, became a staple crop in many parts of Africa. Today, in east Africa, for example, corn is eaten at nearly every meal.