Description

While the kernels that we commonly call corn are technically the fruit of the plantorZea mays, corn is widely classified as a grain and is typically included in research studies of whole grain foods like wheat, oats, and barley. Throughout much of the world, corn is referred to as maize. In many ways, maize is the best way of describing this plant since it was first domesticated in Mesoamerica over 8,000 years ago and was originally described using the Spanish word maiz. This remarkable food took on sacred qualities for many Central American and South American cultures, as well as many Native American tribes in what is now the United States.