Flint corn

History

Flint corn has a long history of cultivation by Native Americans. Researchers have identified flint corn cultivation beginning in the northwest ex-Mexican territories. Flint corn slowly spread from the American southwest through the southeast by about 1 CE and into the northeastern USA and southern Canada by about 1500 CE. Maize (corn) was initially domesticated in Mexico by native peoples about 9,000 years ago. They used many generations of selective breeding to transform a wild teosinte grass with small grains into the rich source of food that is modern Zea mays.

Distinctive traits

Because flint corn has a very low water content, it is more freezing-resistant than other vegetables. It was the only Vermont crop to survive New England's infamous "Year Without a Summer" of 1816.

Coloration

The coloration of flint corn often differs from white and yellow dent corns, many of which were later bred. Most flint corn is multi-colored. Like the Linnaeus variant of maize, any kernel may contain the yellow pigment zeaxanthin but at more varying concentrations.

Regional varieties with specific coloration include blue corn and purple corn. Glass Gem corn became internet famous in 2012 when photos of this brightly colored flint corn went viral.

Uses

Popcorn (Zea mays everta, "corn turned inside out") is considered a variant of this type. It has a hard, slightly translucent kernel.

Flint corn is also the type of corn preferred for making hominy, a staple food in the Americas since pre-Columbian times.

In the Philippines, the Visayan white corn is an heirloom flint corn variety that is a secondary staple cereal in the country. It descended from the corn introduced by the Spanish during the early Spanish colonial period (1565–1898). It can be eaten boiled or grilled, used in a wide variety of traditional dishes as an ingredient, or ground into grits that are eaten as a common rice substitute.

In the United States, the flint corn cultivars that have large proportions of kernels with hues outside the yellow range are primarily used ornamentally as part of Thanksgiving decorations. They are often called either "ornamental corn" or "Indian corn", although each of those names also has other meanings. These varieties can be popped and eaten as popcorn, although many people incorrectly believe that such colored varieties are not palatable or are poisonous.

References

References

1. [http://jugalbandi.info/2007/11/indian-corn/ jugalbandi.info] Indian Corn
2. [http://aces.nmsu.edu/news/1999/110299_bluecorn.html nmsu.edu] {{webarchive. link. (April 3, 2011 Blue Corn Unique to American Southwest)
3. "Seeds of Change Garden". www.mnh.si.edu.
4. Linda Campbell Franklin, "Corn," in Andrew F. Smith (ed.), ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America''. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013 (pp. 551–558), p. 553.
5. Troyer, A. Forrest. (May 1999). "Background of U.S. hybrid corn". Crop Science.
6. [http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/programs/ark_product_detail/roys_calais_flint_corn/ slowfoodusa.org] {{Webarchive. link. (2013-08-23 Roy's Calais flint corn. Retrieved August 2011)
7. [http://www.mnh.si.edu/archives/garden/history/corn.html mnh.si.edu] {{webarchive. link. (July 22, 2009 What kinds of corn are there?)
8. "Glass Gem Corn".
9. ''New Oxford American Dictionary''
10. (August 2018). "Technical Efficiency Analysis of Flint-type White Corn Production in Quezon and Cagayan Provinces in the Philippines". Philippine Journal of Crop Sciences.
11. (2016). "Breeding Potential of Philippine Traditional Maize Varieties". SABRAO Journal of Breeding and Genetics.
12. "Tinigib Visayan White Corn". Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity.
13. (18 September 2015). "Sira-sira Store: How you eat corn (Part 1)". SunStar.