corn

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1. 1. Any of numerous cultivated forms of a widely grown, usually tall annual cereal grass (Zea mays) bearing grains or kernels on large ears.
   2. The grains or kernels of this plant, used as food for humans and livestock or for the extraction of an edible oil or starch. Also called Indian corn, maize.
2. An ear of this plant.
3. Chiefly British. Any of various cereal plants or grains, especially the principal crop cultivated in a particular region, such as wheat in England or oats in Scotland.
4. 1. A single grain of a cereal plant.
   2. A seed or fruit of various other plants, such as a peppercorn.
5. Corn snow.
6. Informal. Corn whiskey.
7. Slang. Something considered trite, dated, melodramatic, or unduly sentimental.

1. To cause to form hard particles; granulate.
2. 1. To season and preserve with granulated salt.
   2. To preserve (beef, for example) in brine.
3. To feed (animals) with corn or grain.

To form hard particles; become grainy: “After the snow melts all day, it corns up at night for fine conditions” (Hatfield Valley Advocate).

[Middle English, grain, from Old English.]

A horny thickening of the skin, usually on or near a toe, resulting from pressure or friction. Also called clavus.

[Middle English corne, from Old French, horn, from Latin cornū.]

Zea mays occupies a larger area than any other grain crop in the United States, where 60% of the world production is grown. Although corn is grown in the United States primarily for livestock feed, about 10% is used for the manufacture of starch, sugar, corn meal, breakfast cereals, oil, alcohol, and several other specialized products. In many tropical countries, corn is used primarily for human consumption.

As a crop

The origin of corn is still unsettled, but the most widely held hypothesis assumes that corn developed from its wild relative teosinte (Z. mexicana) through a combination of favorable mutations, recognized and selectively propagated by early humans. Corn migrated from its center of origin, presumed to be Mexico or Central America, and was being cultivated by the Indians as far north as New England upon the arrival of the first European colonists, whose survival was due largely to the use of corn as food.

Botanically, corn is a member of the grass family. Each form (botanical variety) is conditioned by fairly few genetic differences, and each may exhibit the full range of differences in color, plant type, maturity, and so on, characteristic of the species. All types have the same number of chromosomes (10 pairs), and all may be intercrossed to produce fertile progeny. Dent corns are the most important in the United States. Sweet corn is grown more extensively in the United States than in any other country. It is eaten as fresh corn or canned or frozen. In other countries, flint, dent, or flour corns may be eaten fresh, but at a much more mature stage than the sweet corn eaten in the United States. The commercial production of popcorn is almost exclusively American. See also Cyperales; Genetics; Reproduction (plant).

Corn is a cross-pollinated plant; the staminate (male) and pistillate (female) inflorescences (flower clusters) are borne on separate parts of the same plant (see illustration). Plants of this type are called monoecious. The staminate inflorescence is the tassel; it produces pollen that is carried by the wind to the silks produced on the ears.

A corn plant in full tassel and silk. The tassel produces pollen that is blown by wind to the silks. (Courtesy of J. W. McManigal)

The development of varieties and strains of corn made possible the extension of its culture under diverse soil and climatic conditions. However, modern research methods led to the present widespread use of hybrid corn. Hybrid corn is the first generation of cross involving inbred lines. Inbred lines are developed by controlled self-pollination. When continued for several generations, self-pollination leads to reduction in vigor but permits the isolation of types which are genetically pure or homozygous. Intense selection is practiced during the inbreeding phase to identify and maintain genotypes having the desired plant and ear type and maturity characteristics, and relative freedom from insect and disease attacks. Crosses involving any two unrelated lines will exhibit heterosis, that is, yields above the means of the two parents. See also Breeding (plant); Heterosis.

Planting dates depend upon temperature and soil conditions. Germination is very slow at soil temperatures of 50°F (10°C), and seedling growth is limited at temperatures of 60°F (16°C) or below. Planting rates are influenced by water supply, soil type, and fertility and by the maturity characteristics of the hybrid grown. With planting rates above 16,000 plants per acre (40,000 per hectare), drilling in rows 24–36 in. (60–90 cm) apart has become common practice. The use of nitrogen fertilizer has increased greatly; lesser amounts of phosphorus and potash are applied as needed.

In the 1930s most corn was husked by hand, and the ears were stored in slatted cribs. The mechanical picker supplanted hand harvesting. The mechanical picker, in turn, has been replaced by the picker-sheller or corn combine, which harvests the crop as shelled grain. When harvested as shelled grain, at a relatively high moisture content (20–30%), the grain must be dried artificially for safe storage. High-moisture corn to be used for livestock feed may be stored in airtight silos or may be treated with certain chemical preservatives such as propionic acid. Corn stored under either of these systems is not suitable either for industrial processing or for seed. See also Agricultural machinery.

Corn is highly productive largely because it can use solar energy so efficiently. The corn plant grows vegetatively until about silking, after which all weight increase is in the form of grain. Almost the entire grain yield results from photosynthesis during the grain growth period, which runs from silking to maturity. Contrary to much popular opinion, grain yields are highest under cool conditions, when the lengthened grain growth period more than compensates for the slower growth rate. Relationships among solar radiation, temperature, growing-season length, soil moisture, day length, soil fertility, and corn genotype in producing grain yields are complex and not well understood. Attempts to study the system as a whole, using simulation models on digital computers, may add considerably to knowledge of the subject.

Processing

Corn kernels (seeds) are subjected to both wet and dry milling. The goal of both processes is to separate the germ, the endosperm, and the pericarp (hull).

Wet milling separates the chemical constituents of corn into starch, protein, oil, and fiber fractions, the primary objective being to produce refined corn starch. Worldwide, the production of nutritive sweeteners is the largest use for the starch obtained from corn. The manufacture of corn sweeteners begins with the wet milling process. The starch is first cooked, or pasted. Then, the starch polymers are hydrolyzed (depolymerized) using an acid, an enzyme, a combination of enzymes, or an acid-enzyme combination. The resulting solutions are refined and concentrated to 70–80% solids. These syrups are known worldwide as glucose syrups, but in the United States are often called corn syrups. When starch is completely hydrolyzed, that is, converted into its monomer units, the only product is D-glucose (dextrose), which can be crystallized from concentrated solutions. Isomerization of some of the D-glucose in a high-glucose hydrolyzate to D-fructose produces high-fructose corn syrups (HFCS), which are known simply as high-fructose syrups (HFS) outside the United States. Fructose is approximately 20% sweeter than sucrose on an equal weight basis.

Corn starch is less extensively depolymerized to make products other than sweeteners. Very slight hydrolysis makes products known as acid-modified or thin-boiling starches. A little more modification with an acid produces dextrins. One application is as remoistenable adhesives on envelopes. Hydrolysis catalyzed by acid or enzymes produces starch oligomers, which are known as maltooligosaccharides or maltodextrins. Maltodextrins are used extensively in foods for their bulking and binding properties and the protection they give to frozen foods. Hydrolysis gives mixtures of breakdown products that, when dried, are known as corn syrup solids. Corn syrup solids dissolve rapidly, are mildly sweet, and are used as bulking materials in food.

Most of the processing of dry-milled corn is done by tempering-degerming systems. Cleaned kernels are transferred to a tempering bin, where they are held for various times at various temperatures depending on the miller and the desired product. Tempered kernels are passed through a degerminator, which removes the bran (pericarp) and germ while leaving the endosperm intact. The endosperm may be converted into as many as 16 different fractions. The main products are regular grits, coarse grits, flaking grits, and corn flour. Other products are corn cones and corn meal.

Nixtamalization is the process of cooking and soaking corn kernels in water containing calcium hydroxide (lime) to soften the pericarp and hydrate the protein matrix and starch of the endosperm. The cooked, steeped product, called nixtamal, is then ground, using stone attrition mills. The product, masa, is sheeted, cut into pieces, and baked, producing tortillas, tortilla chips, taco shells, and corn chips. See also Food engineering; Food manufacturing.

Term used in the UK for wheat, in the USA for maize, and sometimes for oats in Scotland and Ireland, originally any grain. See also maize.

A hard pad of skin that develops on or between the toes as a result of friction or pressure. It is often caused by shoes that do not fit properly. The corn has a small fluid sac below the hard pad that allows the pad to slide back and forth without damaging the underlying tissue. Pressure on top of the corn (e.g. from a shoe) pushes it downward causing pain. Corns can be treated with warm water or other softening agents. Also, the pressure on the corn can be relieved by using specially designed pads. Radical treatment by surgical resectioning of the bone underlying the corn, is generally reserved for very difficult cases that do not respond to other forms of treatment.

Throughout Europe, "corn" has always been the generic name for any of the cereal grains; Europeans call corn maize, a derivative of the early American Indian word mahiz. In fact, before settlers came to the New World Europeans had never seen this food-called Indian corn by colonists. What a wonderfully versatile and useful gift the Indians gave the world. Everything on the corn plant can be used: the husks for tamales, the silk for medicinal tea, the kernels for food and the stalks for fodder. Corn is not only a popular food, but the foundation of many by-products including bourbon, corn flour, cornmeal, corn oil, cornstarch, corn syrup, corn whiskey and laundry starch. The multicolored Indian corn-used today mainly for decoration- has red, blue, brown and purple kernels. Horticulturists developed the two most popular varieties today-white (Country Gentleman) and yellow (Golden Bantam) corn. Yellow corn has larger, fuller- flavored kernels; white corn kernels are smaller and sweeter. The hybrid butter and sugar corn produces ears of yellow and white kernels. The peak season for fresh corn is May through September. As soon as it's picked, the corn's sugar immediately begins its gradual conversion to starch which, in turn, lessens the corn's natural sweetness. Therefore, it's important to buy corn as soon after it's picked as possible. Look for ears with bright green, snugly fitting husks and golden brown silk. The kernels should be plump and milky, and come all the way to the ear's tip; the rows should be tightly spaced. Fresh corn should be cooked and served the day it's purchased, but it can be refrigerated up to a day. Strip off the husks and silk just before cooking. Corn can also be purchased canned or frozen. Tiny baby corn, particularly popular with Thai and Chinese cooks, can be purchased in cans or jars. Unfortunately, its flavor bears little resemblance to the fresh (or even frozen) vegetable. hominy is specially processed kernels of corn. See also popcorn.

To English speakers at the time of the first colonies, corn meant grain--the staff of life. The main grain was known simply as corn; all lesser grains had particular names. So in England, where wheat was chiefly cultivated, corn meant wheat; in Scotland and Ireland, corn meant oats. Crossing over to America, English adventurers found a different staff of life cultivated by the Indians. The native American grain, with big juicy kernels in rows around a central core, immediately became the essential crop of the new settlers as well, so it preempted the designation corn. Even today, though the United States grows vast quantities of wheat, oats, sorghum, barley, and rice, corn remains in first place as the chief grain crop of North America.

To distinguish our corn from the European grains, and in recognition of those who first cultivated it, the English later called this grand new grain by the fuller name Indian corn. That term is attested in a London document of 1617. Meanwhile, the only way wheat could be called corn in America was in the designation English corn, used in the Plymouth colony of New England as early as 1629.

But from the start, the native American grain was dominant enough that corn alone would do for it. In 1608, telling of the difficulties of the first permanent English colony in the summer of 1607, Captain John Smith wrote, "Shortly after, it pleased God (in our extremity) to move the Indians to bring us Corne, ere it was half ripe, to refresh us, when we rather expected when they would destroy us."

Maize (Zea mays L.), otherwise known as corn, is a highly unusual, economically important, and genetically well-characterized member of the grass family. It is believed to have originated some 8,000 to 10,000 years ago in the fields of the first agriculturalists of Mexico and Central America. These early farmers carefully selected traits that would ultimately transform the tiny, sparsely seeded spike of a wild grass into the large cob bearing many rows of kernels that we recognize today as an ear of corn.

The success of these early plant breeders was manifested by the spread of corn cultivation throughout the New World, long before the arrival of Europeans. Today, maize is grown in more countries than any other crop, and is a major source of food for both humans and domesticated animals throughout the world. The world production of maize in 2000 exceeded 23 billion bushels, the largest producer being the United States (43 percent).

Early Studies of Maize

As a major crop plant, maize was already the subject of study by plant breeders at the time of the rediscovery of Mendel's laws of inheritance at the beginning of the twentieth century. The inheritance patterns of readily observed traits were uncovered through controlled crosses and the examination of progeny. In many respects, maize was an ideal model system for this early period in the study of genetics. Male and female flowers are borne separately and are easily manipulated for controlled crosses. Large amounts of pollen are produced in the tassels (male inflorescence) over a period of days, and one ear (female inflorescence) contains many seeds (kernels). Large progeny arrays could be produced in one season.

The high genetic diversity of maize provided many interesting mutant phenotypes to study, many of which were recessive. These could be maintained in a heterozygous state by the outcrossed breeding system (most fertilizations are the result of pollen transfer among plants) and easily uncovered by selfing (fertilizations that result from a plant's own pollen). There was also ample scope for selection of extreme phenotypes in continuous (quantitative) traits. A drawback for maize, compared to short-lived fruit flies, is that it only produces one or two crops per year, depending on location. However, many early maize geneticists knew that kernel phenotypes, which were discernable at harvest time, often predicted phenotypes in the adult plants, and could be used to set up the following season's crosses.

One of the earliest breakthroughs in crop breeding was the detection of hybrid vigor in maize by George Harrison Shull in 1908. He found that the progeny of two inbred lines were more productive than their wind-pollinated progenitors. This discovery provided the stimulus for the commercial propagation of maize and made it one of the most productive food plants worldwide.

Later Maize Studies

Many important genetic discoveries were made in maize by a group of scientists brought together at Cornell University in the 1920s and 30s by R. A. Emerson, who is often referred to as the spiritual father of maize genetics. The Emerson group, which included the future Nobel laureates Barbara McClintock and George Beadle, laid the foundation of maize genetics. They assembled information on maize mutants and ultimately produced the first genetic map of maize, based on linkage studies, in 1935. McClintock's first major contribution occurred early in her career (1929), when she perfected the techniques used to visualize maize chromosomes under the microscope. This allowed individual chromosomes to be identified by size, form, and features such as the highly staining regions, called "knobs."

This milestone allowed McClintock and other members of the Emerson group to make major advances in cytogenetics, which combines genetic crossing data and cytological landmarks to locate genes on chromosomes. Cytological landmarks include trisomics, reciprocal translocations, and deficiencies. Another of McClintock's breakthroughs, achieved with the collaboration of her colleague Harriet Creighton, was to establish the cytological proof of crossing over, which refers to the exchange of chromosomal segments during meiosis. Of course, McClintock's most famous discovery was that genetic elements within the genome can move (transpose) from one locus on the chromosome to another. These "jumping genes" (transposable genetic elements of transposons) were later discovered in bacteria, flies, and humans and eventually resulted in McClintock receiving a Nobel Prize in 1983.

In recent years, transposable elements have been exploited as tools for understanding the function of many maize genes. If a transposon inserts into a gene, it will disrupt the function of that gene. The disruption of gene function may result in a mutant phenotype affecting tissues or developmental stages of the plant that give some indication of the function of that gene. For instance, a transposon that inserts into a gene required for chlorophyll production would result in an albino seedling. Because the DNA sequences of many transposable elements in maize are known, they provide convenient molecular tags with which to clone and further characterize the gene into which they have inserted. Corn transposons have also been adapted to mutagenize and "tag" genes in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana.

Bibliography

Dold, Catherine. "The Corn War." Discover (December 1997): 109-113.

Fedoroff, Nina, and David Botstein, eds. The Dynamic Genome: Barbara McClintock's Ideas in the Century of Genetics. Cold Spring Harbor, NY: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 1992.

Kass, Lee B. "Barbara McClintock: American Botanical Geneticist (1902-1992)." In Plant Sciences for Students, vol. 3. New York: Macmillan Publishing, 2000.

Keller, Evelyn Fox. A Feeling for the Organism: The Life and Work of Barbara McClintock. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman, 1983.

Rhoades, Marcus M. "The Early Years of Maize Genetics." Annual Review of Genetics 18 (1984): 1-29.

—Denise E. Costich

For more information on corn, visit Britannica.com.

A hard pad of skin that develops on or between the toes as a result of friction or pressure. It is often caused by ill-fitting shoes. The corn has a small fluid sac below the hard pad that allows the pad to slide back and forth without damaging the underlying tissue. Pressure on top of the corn pushes the sac downward causing pain. Corns can be treated with warm water or other softening agents. The pressure on the corn can be relieved by using specially designed pads or plasters. Radical treatment by surgical resectioning of the bone underlying the corn, is generally reserved for very difficult cases that do not respond to other forms of treatment.

This entry includes two subentries:
The Natural History of Maize
Maize As a Food

1. a circumscribed hyperkeratosis of the footpad of dogs, sensitive to pressure.
2. a hematoma between the sensitive laminae and horn of the sole, usually between the frog and bar, in the hoof of the horse. It is painful on pressure and a cause of lameness.
3. in USA and elsewhere Zea mays, a member of the plant family Poaceae, grown as a cereal crop bearing seeds and used as a grain feed, green chop and ensilage. Used also for human consumption as meal or flour. The grain is deficient in most essential amino acids, especially lysine and tryptophan (high-lysine varieties are available), and in calcium and cannot be used as a complete ration in pigs. It may be fed whole, cracked, flaked, roasted, as dried or as high moisture corn (contains 25% moisture). Overeating of the grain by ruminants causes carbohydrate engorgement, and of moldy standing corn causes moldy corn poisoning. Called also maize.
4. in UK triticum aestivum is also called corn.
5. the name corn is also used with other cereals such as rye corn, barley corn.

• c. cob — see cob (2). Ground into a meal it is used as a roughage of very low nutritive value in ruminant diets. Of some value as a diluent in high grain diets.
• c. cockle — agrostemma githago.
• c. oil — rich source of unsaturated fatty acids, particularly linoleic acid.
• wild c. — see veratrum californicum.

Throughout history corn has been celebrated, symbolized, sanctified, ceremonialized, ritualized and even used to describe substandard humor ("corny"). Corn dreams may thus indicate anything from nourishment to the kind of humor the dreamer may be inflicting upon others. Corn may also represent abundance, growth, or fertility.

Dansk (Danish)
1.
n. - korn, majs, noget umoderne
v. tr. - salte, sprænge

idioms:

• corn bread    majsbrød
• corn cob    majskolbe
• corn exchange    kornbørs
• corn on the cob    kogt majskolbe
• corn silk    hungrifler hos majsblomsten
• corn starch    majsmel

2.
n. - ligtorn

Nederlands (Dutch)
graan, maïs, korrel, likdoorn, flauwigheid, maïswhiskey, verkorrelen, voeren met maïs, zouten

Français (French)
1.
n. - blé, (US) maïs, grain (de céréale), mièvrerie (péj)
v. tr. - se granuler, saler, saumurer, nourrir au grain (des animaux)

idioms:

• corn bread    (US) pain à base de farine de maïs
• corn cob    maïs en épi
• corn exchange    (GB) halle aux grains
• corn on the cob    grain/maïs en épi
• corn silk    soie du maïs
• corn starch    maïzena, farine de maïs

2.
n. - (Méd) cor

Deutsch (German)
1.
n. - Getreide, Korn
v. - salzen

idioms:

• corn bread    Maiskornbrot
• corn cob    Maiskolben
• corn exchange    Getreidebörse
• corn on the cob    Maiskolben
• corn silk    Maisfasern
• corn starch    Maismehl

2.
n. - Hühnerauge

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - σίτος, σιτάρι, (ΗΠΑ) καλαμπόκι, (καθομ.) φτηνό πνεύμα, σαχλαμάρα, κοινοτοπία, φτηνός συναισθηματισμός, κάλος, ρόζος
v. - (μαγειρ.) παστώνω

idioms:

• corn bread    (μαγειρ.) μπομπότα
• corn cob    κοτσάνι καλαμποκιού
• corn exchange    (οικον.) χρηματιστήριο σίτου ή δημητριακών
• corn on the cob    ψημένο καλαμπόκι
• corn silk    θύσανος καλαμποκιού (χρησιμεύει για την παρασκευή διουρητικού αφεψήματος)
• corn starch    καλαμποκάλευρο

Italiano (Italian)
salare, callo, granturco, giallo oro

idioms:

• corn bread    focaccia di granturco
• corn cob    pannocchia
• corn exchange    mercato dei cereali
• corn on the cob    pannocchia arrosta/bollita
• corn silk    peluria del tutolo
• corn starch    fecola di mais
• tread on someone's corns    pestare i piedi a, pungere sul vivo

Português (Portuguese)
n. - milho (m) (Bot.), grão (m), uísque (m) (coloq.)
v. - granular, alimentar (gado)

idioms:

• corn bread    broa (f) de milho
• corn cob    espiga (f) de milho
• corn exchange    bolsa (f) de cereais
• corn on the cob    milho na espiga
• corn silk    barba (f) de milho
• corn starch    amido (m) de milho
• tread on someone's corns    ferir os sentimentos de alguém (fig.)

Русский (Russian)
сентиментальщина, пшеница, кукуруза, зерно, мозоль, кукурузный

idioms:

• corn bread    кукурузный хлеб
• corn cob    кукурузный початок без зерен
• corn exchange    хлебная биржа
• corn on the cob    кукурузный початок
• corn silk    рыльца
• corn starch    кукурузный крахмал
• tread on someone's corns    дразнить, оскорблять

Español (Spanish)
1.
n. - trigo, trivial, banal, de bajo nivel
v. tr. - salar, curar con sal

idioms:

• corn bread    pan de maíz
• corn cob    mazorca de maíz, choclo, elote
• corn exchange    bolsa de cereales
• corn on the cob    mazorca de maíz hervida
• corn silk    barba de choclo
• corn starch    almidón de maíz, maicena

2.
n. - callo, ojo de gallo

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - säd, spannmål, vete (britt.), havre (skotsk. o irl.), majs (am.), sädeskorn, pepparkorn, liktorn
v. - salta, konservera

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
1. 小麦, 玉米, 谷物, 谷粒, 使成粒状, 播种

idioms:

• corn bread    玉米面包
• corn cob    玉米棒子, 玉米穗轴
• corn exchange    谷物交易市场
• corn on the cob    玉米棒子
• corn silk    玉米的穗丝
• corn starch    玉米淀粉

2. 鸡眼

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
1.
n. - 雞眼

2.
n. - 小麥, 玉米, 穀物, 穀粒
v. tr. - 使成粒狀, 播種
v. tr. - 使成粒狀, 播種

idioms:

• corn bread    玉米麵包
• corn cob    玉米心, 玉米穗軸
• corn exchange    穀物交易市場
• corn on the cob    玉米棒子
• corn silk    玉米的穗絲
• corn starch    玉米澱粉

한국어 (Korean)
1.
n. - 옥수수, 곡물, 낟알
v. tr. - 알갱이로 만들다, 소금에 절여 보존하다, 곡물을 먹이다

2.
n. - 티눈

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - トウモロコシ, 小麦, 穀物, 穀粒, うおのめ

idioms:

• corn bread    トウモロコシパン
• corn cob    トウモロコシの穂軸
• corn exchange    穀物取引所
• corn on the cob    軸付きトウモロコシ
• corn silk    トウモロコシの毛
• corn starch    コーンスターチ, トウモロコシ澱粉

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) ذرة, أذرة, مسمار في القدم (فعل) يحول الى مسحوق, يحفظ بواسطه الملح‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮דגן, תבואה, תירס, גרעין‬
v. tr. - ‮שימר (בשר) במלח, האכיל בדגן, זרע דגן‬
n. - ‮יבלת‬

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