In my last post I talked about hard corn and with yields in the tropics, the yellow-orange hard corn types reach an area of 20 million hectares, while the creamy-white ones reach 12.5 million hectares. , today I will continue describing other types of corn.
▶ Popcorn is an extreme form of hard corn with a hard endosperm that occupies most of the kernel and a small amount of soft starch in the basal part of the kernel. The beans are small, with a thick pericarp, and vary in shape from round to oblong. When the grain is heated, it bursts and the endosperm comes out. Several early forms of corn have popping-type kernels. Primitive Sikkim maize found in Sikkim and Bhutan in the Himalayan region has popped kernels similar to rice. The main use of popcorn is for snacks (popcorn or popcorn).
▶ Credits: depositphotos – [Image of Public Domain]
There is also dent corn, generally speaking, dent corn is the type of corn most commonly grown for grain and silage. The endosperm of dent corn has more soft starch than the hard types, and the hard starch is limited to just the sides of the kernel. As the grain begins to dry out, the soft starch at the top of the grain shrinks and produces a small depression.
We continue with floury corn, the endosperm of floury corn is composed almost exclusively of a very soft starch, which is easily scratched with a fingernail even when the grain is not ripe and ready to harvest. It is the predominant maize in the highlands of the Andean region and Mexico. The types of floury maize show great variability in grain color and texture, these maize are almost exclusively used as human food and some races are used for the preparation of special dishes and drinks.
For today I will culminate with the Waxy Maizes, currently these maizes are cultivated in very limited areas of the tropical zones where the local populations prefer them for their food; its name is due to the fact that its endosperm has an opaque and waxy appearance. The starch in hard and dent maize is commonly made up of about 70% amylopectin and 30% amylose; On the other hand, in waxy maize it is exclusively composed of amylopectin.
NOTE: Reference material.