Fruits, Vegetables, Nuts, Grains, Berries - Maize

Maize Color 557 - #FBEC5D

Maize, known in some English-speaking countries as corn, is a large grain plant domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain the grain, which are seeds called kernels. Maize kernels are used in cooking as a starch.

The Olmec and Mayans cultivated it in numerous varieties throughout Mesoamerica, cooked, ground or processed through nixtamalization. Beginning about 2500 BC, the crop spread through much of the Americas.

Maize is the most widely grown grain crop throughout the Americas, with 332 million metric tons grown annually in the United States alone.