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96-480: Popcorn (also called popped corn , popcorns , or pop-corn ) is a variety of corn kernel which expands and puffs up when heated. The term also refers to the snack food produced by the expansion. It is one of the oldest snacks, with evidence of popcorn dating back thousands of years in the Americas. It is commonly eaten salted, sweetened, or with artificial flavorings. A popcorn kernel's strong hull contains
192-814: A conventional breeding program to provide optimized strains. The program began in the 1980s. Hybrid seeds are distributed in Africa by its Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa project. Tropical landraces remain an important and underused source of resistance alleles – both those for disease and for herbivores . Such alleles can then be introgressed into productive varieties. Rare alleles for this purpose were discovered by Dao and Sood, both in 2014. In 2018, Zerka Rashid of CIMMYT used its association mapping panel, developed for tropical drought tolerance traits. to find new genomic regions providing sorghum downy mildew resistance , and to further characterize known differentially methylated regions . Genetically modified maize
288-403: A corn head (with points and snap rolls instead of a reel) does not cut the stalk; it simply pulls the stalk down. The stalk continues downward and is crumpled into a mangled pile on the ground, where it usually is left to become organic matter for the soil . The ear of maize is too large to pass between slots in a plate as the snap rolls pull the stalk away, leaving only the ear and husk to enter
384-434: A heavy lid and slowly turned over a fire in rotisserie fashion. Popping results are sensitive to the rate at which the kernels are heated. If heated too quickly, the steam in the outer layers of the kernel can reach high pressures and rupture the hull before the starch in the center of the kernel can fully gelatinize, leading to partially popped kernels with hard centers. Heating too slowly leads to entirely unpopped kernels:
480-455: A high moisture content are also susceptible to mold when stored. For these reasons, popcorn growers and distributors dry the kernels until they reach the moisture level at which they expand the most. This differs by variety and conditions, but is generally in the range of 14–15% moisture by weight. If the kernels are over-dried, the expansion rate will suffer and the percentage of kernels that pop will decline. Old popcorn tends to dry out, lowering
576-425: A hybrid they named "RedBow". An advertising agency advised them to use Orville Redenbacher's own name as the brand name. They launched their popping corn in 1970. In 1976, Redenbacher sold the company to Hunt - Wesson Foods, a division of Norton Simon, Inc. In 1983, Esmark purchased Norton Simon, which in turn was acquired by Beatrice Foods in 1984. In 1985, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts acquired Beatrice with
672-408: A large cob. Yellow maizes derive their color from carotenoids ; red maizes are colored by anthocyanins and phlobaphenes ; and orange and green varieties may contain combinations of these pigments. Maize has short-day photoperiodism , meaning that it requires nights of a certain length to flower. Flowering further requires enough warm days above 10 °C (50 °F). The control of flowering
768-499: A measure of protection against a wide range of pests. Because of its shallow roots, maize is susceptible to droughts, intolerant of nutrient-deficient soils, and prone to being uprooted by severe winds. Maize is diploid with 20 chromosomes . 83% of allelic variation within the genome derives from its teosinte ancestors, primarily due to the freedom of Zea species to outcross . Barbara McClintock used maize to validate her transposon theory of "jumping genes", for which she won
864-521: A packing material, including attractiveness to pests , flammability , and a higher cost and greater density than expanded polystyrene. A more processed form of expanded corn foam has been developed to overcome some of these limitations, forming starch-based foam peanuts . Maize Maize / m eɪ z / ( Zea mays ), also known as corn in North American English , is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain . It
960-638: A place but a condition, a savage rather than a civilized grain". International groups such as the Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International consider maize the preferred common name. The word maize is used by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization , and in the names of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center of Mexico, the Indian Institute of Maize Research,
1056-601: A plant that uses C 4 carbon fixation , maize is a considerably more water-efficient crop than plants that use C 3 carbon fixation such as alfalfa and soybeans . Maize is most sensitive to drought at the time of silk emergence, when the flowers are ready for pollination. In the United States, a good harvest was traditionally predicted if the maize was "knee-high by the Fourth of July ", although modern hybrids generally exceed this growth rate. Maize used for silage
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#17327918026681152-404: A real contribution." In 1988, Purdue University awarded him an honorary doctorate. Aside from his contributions to the popcorn industry, he is noteworthy for his appearances on television, and in particular, his charismatic image in commercials. Since 2006, several of Orville's commercials from the 1970s and 1980s have aired on many channels across the United States. The advertisements for
1248-527: A single cob of popcorn may form both butterfly and mushroom flakes; hybrids that produce 100% butterfly flakes or 100% mushroom flakes exist, the latter developed only as recently as 1998. Popcorn is a popular snack food at sporting events and in movie theaters , where it has been served since the 1930s. Cinemas have come under fire due to their high markup on popcorn; Stuart Hanson, a film historian at De Montfort University in Leicester, once said, "One of
1344-589: A special kind of flint corn , is the most common of these. Popcorn is one of six major types of corn, which includes dent corn , flint corn , pod corn , flour corn , and sweet corn . Corn was domesticated about 10,000 years ago, in what is now Mexico . Archaeologists discovered that people have known about popcorn for thousands of years. Fossil evidence from Peru suggests that corn was present there as early as 4700 BCE , and popped there over 1000 years ago. Between 2007 and 2011, evidence, as early as 4700 BCE, for popping corn, as macrofossil cobs, were discovered at
1440-530: A stove-top kettle or pot in a home kitchen, commercial sale employs specially designed popcorn machines, which were invented in Chicago, Illinois , by Charles Cretors in 1885. Cretors introduced his invention at the Columbian Exposition in 1893. At that fair, F. W. Rueckheim introduced a molasses -flavored "Candied Popcorn", the first caramel corn ; his brother, Louis Ruekheim, slightly altered
1536-401: A sweetener. Popcorn balls (popped kernels stuck together with a sugary "glue") were hugely popular around the turn of the 20th century, but their popularity has since waned. Popcorn balls are still served in some places as a traditional Halloween treat. Cracker Jack is a popular, commercially produced candy that consists of peanuts mixed in with caramel -covered popcorn. Kettle corn is
1632-477: A variation of normal popcorn, cooked with white sugar and salt, traditionally in a large copper kettle. Once reserved for specialty shops and county fairs, kettle corn has recently become popular, especially in the microwave popcorn market. The popcorn maker is a relatively new home appliance , and its popularity is increasing because it offers the opportunity to add flavors of the consumer's own choice and to choose healthy-eating popcorn styles. Popped sorghum
1728-461: Is a major pest of maize in Asia. Orville Redenbacher Orville Clarence Redenbacher (July 16, 1907 – September 19, 1995) was an American food scientist and businessman most often associated with the brand of popcorn that bears his name which is now owned by Conagra Brands . The New York Times described him as "the agricultural visionary who all but single-handedly revolutionized
1824-426: Is a problem in Asia. Some fungal diseases of maize produce potentially dangerous mycotoxins such as aflatoxin . In the United States, major diseases include tar spot , bacterial leaf streak , gray leaf spot , northern corn leaf blight, and Goss's wilt ; in 2022, the most damaging disease was tar spot, which caused losses of 116.8 million bushels . Maize sustains a billion dollars' worth of losses annually in
1920-665: Is a rich source (20% or more of the Daily Value , DV) of riboflavin (25% DV) and several dietary minerals , particularly manganese , phosphorus , and zinc (36–45% DV). B vitamins and other minerals are in appreciable amounts (table). Movie theaters commonly use coconut oil to pop the corn, and then top it with butter or margarine . Movie theater popcorn contains large amounts of saturated fats and sodium due to its method of preparation. Sorghum grains can be popped to form popcorn. All sorghums contain phenolic acids , and most contain flavonoids . Sorghum grains are one of
2016-550: Is an important factor to both the consumer and vendor. For the consumer, larger pieces of popcorn tend to be more tender and are associated with higher quality. For the grower, distributor and vendor, expansion is closely correlated with profit: vendors such as theaters buy popcorn by weight and sell it by volume. For these reasons, higher-expansion popcorn fetches a higher profit per unit weight. Popcorn will pop when freshly harvested, but not well; its high moisture content leads to poor expansion and chewy pieces of popcorn. Kernels with
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#17327918026682112-550: Is an ingredient in Cracker Jack and, in the early years of the product, it was popped by hand. Popcorn's accessibility increased rapidly in the 1890s with Charles Cretors ' invention of the popcorn maker. Cretors, a Chicago candy store owner, had created a number of steam-powered machines for roasting nuts and applied the technology to the corn kernels. By the turn of the century, Cretors had created and deployed street carts equipped with steam-powered popcorn makers. During
2208-408: Is composed of transposons , contains 32,540 genes. Much of it has been duplicated and reshuffled by helitrons , a group of transposable elements within maize's DNA. Maize breeding in prehistory resulted in large plants producing large ears. Modern breeding began with individuals who selected highly productive varieties in their fields and then sold seed to other farmers. James L. Reid was one of
2304-537: Is cultivated throughout the world; a greater weight of maize is produced each year than any other grain. In 2020, world production was 1.1 billion tonnes. It is afflicted by many pests and diseases ; two major insect pests, European corn borer and corn rootworms , have each caused annual losses of a billion dollars in the US. Modern plant breeding has greatly increased output and qualities such as nutrition, drought tolerance, and tolerance of pests and diseases. Much maize
2400-592: Is dominated by white and yellow. In the popcorn industry, a popped kernel of corn is known as a "flake". Two shapes of flakes are commercially important. "Butterfly" (or "snowflake") flakes are irregular in shape and have a number of protruding "wings". "Mushroom" flakes are largely ball-shaped, with few wings. Butterfly flakes are regarded as having better mouthfeel , with greater tenderness and less noticeable hulls. Mushroom flakes are less fragile than butterfly flakes and are therefore often used for packaged popcorn or confectionery , such as caramel corn . The kernels from
2496-414: Is harvested while the plant is green and the fruit immature. Sweet corn is harvested in the "milk stage", after pollination but before starch has formed, between late summer and early to mid-autumn. Field maize is left in the field until very late in the autumn to thoroughly dry the grain, and may, in fact, sometimes not be harvested until winter or even early spring. The importance of sufficient soil moisture
2592-533: Is now genetically modified . As a food, maize is used to make a wide variety of dishes including Mexican tortillas and tamales , Italian polenta , and American hominy grits . Maize protein is low in some essential amino acids , and the niacin it contains only becomes available if freed by alkali treatment . In Mesoamerica, maize is deified as a maize god and depicted in sculptures. Maize requires human intervention for it to propagate. The kernels of its naturally-propagating teosinte ancestor fall off
2688-461: Is popular as a snack in India. The popped sorghum is similar to popcorn, but the puffs are smaller. Recipes for popping sorghum by microwave, in a pot, etc., are readily available online. Air-popped popcorn (no salt or other additives) is 4% water, 78% carbohydrates (including 15% dietary fiber ), 12% protein , and 4% fat (table). In a 100 gram reference amount, popcorn provides 382 calories and
2784-468: Is set genetically; the physiological mechanism involves the phytochrome system. Tropical cultivars can be problematic if grown in higher latitudes, as the longer days can make the plants grow tall instead of setting seed before winter comes. On the other hand, growing tall rapidly could be convenient for producing biofuel. Immature maize shoots accumulate a powerful antibiotic substance, 2,4-dihydroxy-7-methoxy-1,4-benzoxazin-3-one ( DIMBOA ), which provides
2880-560: Is shown in many parts of Africa, where periodic drought regularly causes maize crop failure and consequent famine . Although it is grown mainly in wet, hot climates, it can thrive in cold, hot, dry or wet conditions, meaning that it is an extremely versatile crop. Maize was planted by the Native Americans in small hills of soil, in the polyculture system called the Three Sisters . Maize provided support for beans ;
2976-557: Is the domesticated variant of the four species of teosintes , which are its crop wild relatives . The teosinte origin theory was proposed by the Russian botanist Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov in 1931, and the American Nobel Prize -winner George Beadle in 1932. The two plants have dissimilar appearance, maize having a single tall stalk with multiple leaves and teosinte being a short, bushy plant. The difference between
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3072-405: Is the leaf most closely associated with a particular developing ear. This leaf and those above it contribute over three quarters of the carbohydrate ( starch ) that fills the grain. The grains are usually yellow or white in modern varieties; other varieties have orange, red, brown, blue , purple , or black grains. They are arranged in 8 to 32 rows around the cob; there can be up to 1200 grains on
3168-607: The Ancestral Puebloan peoples, who maintained trade networks with peoples in tropical Mexico. Through the 19th century, popping of the kernels was achieved by hand, on stove tops over flame. Kernels were sold on the East Coast of the United States under names such as Pearls or Nonpareil . The term popped corn first appeared in John Russell Bartlett 's 1848 Dictionary of Americanisms . Popcorn
3264-612: The Balsas River valley in Mexico's southwestern highlands, as the crop wild relative genetically most similar to modern maize. The middle part of the short Balsas River valley is the likely location of early domestication. Stone milling tools with maize residue have been found in an 8,700 year old layer of deposits in a cave not far from Iguala, Guerrero . Doebley and colleagues showed in 2002 that maize had been domesticated only once, about 9,000 years ago, and then spread throughout
3360-705: The Columbian exchange , it has become a staple food in many parts of the world, with the total production of maize surpassing that of wheat and rice . Much maize is used for animal feed , whether as grain or as the whole plant, which can either be baled or made into the more palatable silage . Sugar-rich varieties called sweet corn are grown for human consumption, while field corn varieties are used for animal feed, for uses such as cornmeal or masa , corn starch , corn syrup , pressing into corn oil , alcoholic beverages like bourbon whiskey , and as chemical feedstocks including ethanol and other biofuels . Maize
3456-686: The Great Depression , popcorn was fairly inexpensive at 5–10 cents a bag and became popular. Thus, while other businesses failed, the popcorn business thrived and became a source of income for many struggling farmers and entrepreneurs, including the Redenbacher family, namesake of the Orville Redenbacher's popcorn brand. During World War II , sugar rations diminished candy production, and Americans compensated by eating three times as much popcorn as they had before. The snack
3552-607: The 1983 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine . Maize remains an important model organism for genetics and developmental biology . The MADS-box motif is involved in the development of maize flowers. The Maize Genetics and Genomics Database is funded by the US Department of Agriculture to support maize research. The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center maintains a large collection of maize accessions tested and cataloged for insect resistance. In 2005,
3648-405: The 232 °C (450 °F) temperature needed to pop corn and produces little smoke. A fire under a boiler created steam that drove a small engine to drive gears, shaft, and the agitator that stirred the corn, and also powered a small puppet, "The Toasty Roasty Man", an attention-getting amusement to attract business. A wire connected to the top of the cooking pan allowed the operator to disengage
3744-538: The American popcorn industry". Orville Clarence Redenbacher was born in Brazil, Indiana , on July 16, 1907, the son of Julia Magdalena Dierdorff (1874–1944) and farmer William Joseph Redenbacher (1872–1939). He grew up on his family's farm, where he sometimes sold popcorn from the back of his car. He graduated from Brazil High School in 1924 in the top 5% of his class. He attended Purdue University , where he joined
3840-606: The Americas. Maize pollen dated to 7,300 years ago from San Andres, Tabasco has been found on the Caribbean coast. A primitive corn was being grown in southern Mexico, Central America, and northern South America 7,000 years ago. Archaeological remains of early maize ears, found at Guila Naquitz Cave in the Oaxaca Valley , are roughly 6,250 years old; the oldest ears from caves near Tehuacan , Puebla, are 5,450 years old. Around 4,500 years ago, maize began to spread to
3936-479: The B-vitamin niacin , the lack of which caused pellagra . Once alkali processing and dietary variety were understood and applied, pellagra disappeared in the developed world. The development of high- lysine maize and the promotion of a more balanced diet have contributed to its demise. Pellagra still exists in food-poor areas and refugee camps where people survive on donated maize. The name maize derives from
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4032-709: The Maize Association of Australia, the National Maize Association of Nigeria, the National Maize Association of Ghana, the Maize Trust of South Africa, and the Zimbabwe Seed Maize Association. Maize is a tall annual grass with a single stem, ranging in height from 1.2 m (4 ft) to 4 m (13 ft). The long narrow leaves arise from the nodes or joints, alternately on opposite sides on
4128-557: The Paredones and Huaca Prieta archaeological sites on the northern coast of Peru. In 1948 and 1950, evidence, as early as 3600 BCE, for popping corn, as ears of popcorn, were discovered by Harvard anthropology graduate student Herbert W. Dick and Harvard botany graduate student Claude Earle Smith, Junior (1922–1987), in a complex of rock shelters, dubbed the "Bat Cave", in Catron County , west-central New Mexico, and attributed to
4224-586: The Spanish form maíz of the Taíno mahis . The Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus used the common name maize as the species epithet in Zea mays . The name maize is preferred in formal, scientific, and international usage as a common name because it refers specifically to this one grain, unlike corn , which has a complex variety of meanings that vary by context and geographic region. Most countries primarily use
4320-562: The US National Science Foundation , Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Energy formed a consortium to sequence the maize genome . The resulting DNA sequence data was deposited immediately into GenBank , a public repository for genome-sequence data. Sequencing of the maize genome was completed in 2008. In 2009, the consortium published results of its sequencing effort. The genome, 85% of which
4416-534: The US from each of two major insect pests , namely the European corn borer or ECB ( Ostrinia nubilalis ) and corn rootworms ( Diabrotica spp ) western corn rootworm , northern corn rootworm , and southern corn rootworm . Another serious pest is the fall armyworm ( Spodoptera frugiperda ). The maize weevil ( Sitophilus zeamais ) is a serious pest of stored grain. The Northern armyworm, Oriental armyworm or Rice ear-cutting caterpillar ( Mythimna separata )
4512-532: The United States have stopped using this chemical, including Orville Redenbacher's , Act II , Pop Secret and Jolly Time . Popcorn, threaded onto a string, is used as a wall or Christmas tree decoration in some parts of North America , as well as on the Balkan peninsula . Some shipping companies have experimented with using popcorn as a biodegradable replacement for expanded polystyrene packing material. However, popcorn has numerous undesirable properties as
4608-851: The agriculture-oriented Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity, marched tuba in the Purdue All-American Marching Band , joined the Purdue University track team, and worked at the Purdue Exponent . He graduated in 1928 with a degree in agronomy . He spent most of his life in the agriculture industry, serving as a Vigo County Farm Bureau extension agent in Terre Haute, Indiana , and at Princeton Farms in Princeton, Indiana . The New York Times described Redenbacher: "But for all his bumpkin appearance,
4704-418: The beans provided nitrogen derived from nitrogen-fixing rhizobia bacteria which live on the roots of beans and other legumes ; and squashes provided ground cover to stop weeds and inhibit evaporation by providing shade over the soil. Sweet corn, harvested earlier than maize grown for grain, grows to maturity in a period of from 60 to 100 days according to variety. An extended sweet corn harvest, picked at
4800-613: The body of Christ. Maize spread to the rest of the world because of its ability to grow in diverse climates. It was cultivated in Spain just a few decades after Columbus's voyages and then spread to Italy, West Africa and elsewhere. By the 17th century, it was a common peasant food in Southern Europe. By the 18th century, it was the chief food of the southern French and Italian peasantry, especially as polenta in Italy. When maize
4896-410: The brand's "natural" popcorn snacks were introduced in 2008, 13 years after Redenbacher's death, and feature a clip of him at the end. In January 2007, a television commercial featuring a digital recreation of Redenbacher appeared. Redenbacher's grandson, Gary Redenbacher, responded to questions about how he felt about the advertisement by saying: "Grandpa would go for it. He was a cutting-edge guy. This
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#17327918026684992-410: The chemicals 6-acetyl-2,3,4,5-tetrahydropyridine and 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline , very powerful aroma compounds that are also used by food and other industries either to make products that smell like popcorn, bread, or other foods containing the compound in nature, or for other purposes. Popcorn as a breakfast cereal was consumed by Americans in the 1800s and generally consisted of popcorn with milk and
5088-577: The cob on their own, while those of domesticated maize do not. All maize arose from a single domestication in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago. The oldest surviving maize types are those of the Mexican highlands. Maize spread from this region to the lowlands and over the Americas along two major paths. The centre of domestication was most likely the Balsas River valley of south-central Mexico. Maize reached highland Ecuador at least 8000 years ago. It reached lower Central America by 7600 years ago, and
5184-467: The company's official spokesperson, wearing a trademark outfit in public that included horn-rimmed glasses and a bow tie. Sometimes Redenbacher appeared in commercials with his grandson, Gary Redenbacher. Some customers wrote letters asking if Redenbacher was a real person, and not an actor. He responded to this by appearing on various talk shows, professing his identity. Redenbacher, in his book, states, "I want to make it clear that I am real." Redenbacher
5280-403: The drive mechanism, lift the cover, and dump popped corn into the storage bin beneath. Exhaust from the steam engine was piped to a pan below the corn storage bin and kept freshly popped corn warm. Excess steam was also used to operate a small, shrill whistle to attract attention. A different method of popcorn-making involves the " popcorn hammer ", a large cast-iron canister that is sealed with
5376-425: The earliest and most successful, developing Reid's Yellow Dent in the 1860s. These early efforts were based on mass selection (a row of plants is grown from seeds of one parent), and the choosing of plants after pollination (which means that only the female parents are known). Later breeding efforts included ear to row selection (C. G. Hopkins c. 1896), hybrids made from selected inbred lines (G. H. Shull, 1909), and
5472-411: The endosperm into airy foam . As the foam rapidly cools, the starch and protein polymers set into the familiar crispy puff. Special varieties are grown to improve popping yield. Though the kernels of some other types will pop, the cultivated strain for popcorn is Zea mays everta, which is a variety of flint corn . Popcorn can be cooked with butter or oil. Although small quantities can be popped in
5568-413: The entire ear is harvested, which requires a separate operation of a maize sheller to remove the kernels from the ear. Whole ears of maize were often stored in corn cribs , sufficient for some livestock feeding uses. Today corn cribs with whole ears, and corn binders, are less common because most modern farms harvest the grain from the field with a combine harvester and store it in bins . The combine with
5664-774: The expansion of the Inca Empire , maize was traded and transported as far south as 40° S in Melinquina, Lácar Department , Argentina, probably brought across the Andes from Chile. After the arrival of Europeans in 1492, Spanish settlers consumed maize, and explorers and traders carried it back to Europe . Spanish settlers much preferred wheat bread to maize. Maize flour could not be substituted for wheat for communion bread, since in Christian belief at that time only wheat could undergo transubstantiation and be transformed into
5760-746: The first patent for a microwave oven popcorn bag; popcorn consumption saw an increase. At least six localities (all in the Midwestern United States ) claim to be the "Popcorn Capital of the World;": Ridgway, Illinois ; Valparaiso, Indiana ; Van Buren, Indiana ; Schaller, Iowa ; Marion, Ohio ; and North Loup, Nebraska . According to the USDA , specific corn for popcorn is grown mostly in Nebraska and Indiana , and increasingly in Texas . As
5856-484: The goal of selling off businesses. In 1990, they sold the popcorn business and other old Hunt-Wesson businesses to agribusiness giant ConAgra . In 1973, Redenbacher appeared on TV's To Tell the Truth game show. By the mid-1970s, Redenbacher and Bowman had captured a third of the unpopped-popcorn market. Redenbacher then moved to Coronado, California , where he lived for the remainder of his life. He appeared as
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#17327918026685952-543: The great jokes in the industry is that popcorn is second only to cocaine or heroin in terms of profit." Traditions differ as to whether popcorn is consumed as a hearty snack food with salt (predominating in the United States) or as a sweet snack food with caramelized sugar (predominating in Germany). Popcorn smell has an unusually attractive quality for human beings. This is largely because it contains high levels of
6048-636: The highest food sources of the flavonoid proanthocyanidin . Popcorn is included on the list of foods that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends not serving to children under four, because of the risk of choking . Microwaveable popcorn represents a special case, since it is designed to be cooked along with its various flavoring agents. One of these formerly common artificial-butter flavorants, diacetyl , has been implicated in causing respiratory illnesses in microwave popcorn factory workers, also known as " popcorn lung ". Major manufacturers in
6144-532: The highly successful double cross hybrids using four inbred lines ( D. F. Jones c. 1918, 1922). University-supported breeding programs were especially important in developing and introducing modern hybrids. Since the 1940s, the best strains of maize have been first-generation hybrids made from inbred strains that have been optimized for specific traits, such as yield, nutrition, drought, pest and disease tolerance. Both conventional cross-breeding and genetic engineering have succeeded in increasing output and reducing
6240-550: The history of the word corn in North America that "[t]o say the word corn is to plunge into the tragi-farcical mistranslations of language and history". Similar to the British usage, the Spanish referred to maize as panizo , a generic term for cereal grains, as did Italians with the term polenta . The British later referred to maize as Turkey wheat, Turkey corn, or Indian corn; Fussell comments that "they meant not
6336-656: The kernels, or the shape of the popped corn. While the kernels may come in a variety of colors, the popped corn is always off-yellow or white as it is only the hull (or pericarp) that is colored. "Rice" type popcorn have a long kernel pointed at both ends; "pearl" type kernels are rounded at the top. Commercial popcorn production has moved mostly to pearl types. Historically, pearl popcorn were usually yellow and rice popcorn usually white. Today both shapes are available in both colors, as well as others including black, red, mauve , purple, and variegated . Mauve and purple popcorn usually have smaller and nutty kernels. Commercial production
6432-419: The machinery. The combine separates the husk and the cob, keeping only the kernels. Drying is vital to prevent or at least reduce damage by mould fungi, which contaminate the grain with mycotoxins . Aspergillus and Fusarium spp. are the most common mycotoxin sources, and accordingly important in agriculture. If the moisture content of the harvested grain is too high, grain dryers are used to reduce
6528-585: The man with the signature white wavy hair and oversized bow tie was a shrewd agricultural scientist who experimented with hybrids." He began his career selling fertilizer, but spent his spare time working with popcorn. In 1951, Redenbacher and partner Charles F. Bowman bought the George F. Chester and Son seed corn plant in Boone Grove, Indiana . Naming the company "Chester Hybrids", they tried tens of thousands of hybrid strains of popcorn before settling on
6624-413: The milk stage, can be arranged either by planting a selection of varieties which ripen earlier and later, or by planting different areas at fortnightly intervals. Maize harvested as a grain crop can be kept in the field a relatively long time, even months, after the crop is ready to harvest; it can be harvested and stored in the husk leaves if kept dry. Before World War II , most maize in North America
6720-427: The moisture content by blowing heated air through the grain. This can require large amounts of energy in the form of combustible gases ( propane or natural gas ) and electricity to power the blowers. Maize is widely cultivated throughout the world, and a greater weight of maize is produced each year than any other grain. In 2020, total world production was 1.16 billion tonnes , led by the United States with 31.0% of
6816-501: The need for cropland, pesticides, water and fertilizer. There is conflicting evidence to support the hypothesis that maize yield potential has increased over the past few decades. This suggests that changes in yield potential are associated with leaf angle, lodging resistance, tolerance of high plant density, disease/pest tolerance, and other agronomic traits rather than increase of yield potential per individual plant. Certain varieties of maize have been bred to produce many ears; these are
6912-400: The new crop. The rise in maize cultivation 500 to 1,000 years ago in what is now the southeastern United States corresponded with a decline of freshwater mussels , which are very sensitive to environmental changes. Because it is cold-intolerant, in the temperate zones maize must be planted in the spring. Its root system is generally shallow, so the plant is dependent on soil moisture. As
7008-465: The north. In the United States, maize was first cultivated at several sites in New Mexico and Arizona about 4,100 years ago. During the first millennium AD, maize cultivation spread more widely in the areas north. In particular, the large-scale adoption of maize agriculture and consumption in eastern North America took place about A.D. 900. Native Americans cleared large forest and grassland areas for
7104-760: The presence of Starlink genetically modified corn, which had been approved only for animal consumption. The maize genus Zea is relatively closely related to sorghum , both being in the PACMAD clade of Old World grasses, and much more distantly to rice and wheat , which are in the other major group of grasses, the BOP clade . It is closely related to Tripsacum , gamagrass. various grasses e.g. fescue , ryegrass Hordeum (barley) Triticum (wheat) Oryza (rice) Pennisetum (fountaingrasses) Sorghum (sorghum) Tripsacum (gamagrass) Zea mays (maize) other Zea species ( teosintes ) Maize
7200-414: The recipe and introduced it as Cracker Jack in 1896. Cretors's invention was the first patented steam-driven machine that popped corn in oil. Previously, vendors popped corn by holding a wire basket over an open flame. At best, the result was hot, dry, and unevenly cooked. Cretors's machine popped corn in a mixture of one-third clarified butter , two-thirds lard , and salt . This mixture can withstand
7296-416: The result of an elementary school project, popcorn became the official state snack food of Illinois . Each kernel of popcorn contains moisture and oil. Unlike most other grains, the outer hull of the popcorn kernel is strong and impervious to moisture, and the starch inside consists almost entirely of a hard type. As the oil and water in the kernel are heated, they turn into steam. Under these conditions,
7392-406: The seed's hard, starchy shell endosperm with 14–20% moisture, which turns to steam as the kernel is heated. Pressure from the steam continues to build until the hull ruptures, allowing the kernel to forcefully expand, to 20 to 50 times its original size, and then cool. Some strains of corn ( taxonomized as Zea mays ) are cultivated specifically as popping corns. The Zea mays variety everta ,
7488-491: The source of the " baby corn " used as a vegetable in Asian cuisine . A fast-flowering variety named mini-maize was developed to aid scientific research, as multiple generations can be obtained in a single year. One strain called olotón has evolved a symbiotic relationship with nitrogen-fixing microbes, which provides the plant with 29%–82% of its nitrogen. The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) operates
7584-415: The stalk. Maize is monoecious , with separate male and female flowers on the same plant. At the top of the stem is the tassel, an inflorescence of male flowers; their anthers release pollen, which is dispersed by wind . Like other pollen, it is an allergen , but most of it falls within a few meters of the tassel and the risk is largely restricted to farm workers. The female inflorescence, some way down
7680-401: The starch inside the kernel gelatinizes and softens. The steam pressure increases until the breaking point of the hull is reached; a pressure of approximately 930 kPa (135 psi) and a temperature of 180 °C (356 °F). The hull ruptures, causing a sudden drop in pressure inside the kernel and a corresponding rapid expansion of the steam, which expands the starch and proteins of
7776-425: The stem from the tassel, is first seen as a silk, a bundle of soft tubular hairs , one for the carpel in each female flower, which develops into a kernel (often called a seed. Botanically, as in all grasses, it is a fruit, fused with the seed coat to form a caryopsis ) when it is pollinated. A whole female inflorescence develops into an ear or corncob , enveloped by multiple leafy layers or husks. The ear leaf
7872-608: The term maize , and the name corn is used mainly in the United States and a handful of other English-speaking countries. In countries that primarily use the term maize , the word corn may denote any cereal crop, varying geographically with the local staple , such as wheat in England and oats in Scotland or Ireland. The usage of corn for maize started as a shortening of " Indian corn " in 18th-century North America. The historian of food Betty Fussell writes in an article on
7968-429: The tip of the kernel, where it attached to the cob, is not entirely moisture-proof, and when heated slowly, the steam can leak out of the tip fast enough to keep the pressure from rising sufficiently to break the hull and cause the pop. Producers and sellers of popcorn consider two major factors in evaluating the quality of popcorn: what percentage of the kernels will pop, and how much each popped kernel expands. Expansion
8064-472: The total (table). China produced 22.4% of the global total. Many pests can affect maize growth and development, including invertebrates, weeds, and pathogens. Maize is susceptible to a large number of fungal, bacterial, and viral plant diseases . Those of economic importance include diseases of the leaf, smuts such as corn smut , ear rots and stalk rots. Northern corn leaf blight damages maize throughout its range, whereas banded leaf and sheath blight
8160-500: The two is largely controlled by differences in just two genes, called grassy tillers-1 ( gt1 , A0A317YEZ1 ) and teosinte branched-1 ( tb1 , Q93WI2 ). In the late 1930s, Paul Mangelsdorf suggested that domesticated maize was the result of a hybridization event between an unknown wild maize and a species of Tripsacum , a related genus; this has been refuted by modern genetic testing . In 2004, John Doebley identified Balsas teosinte, Zea mays subsp. parviglumis , native to
8256-589: The valleys of the Colombian Andes between 7000 and 6000 years ago. The earliest maize plants grew a single, small ear per plant. The Olmec and Maya cultivated maize in numerous varieties throughout Mesoamerica ; they cooked, ground and processed it through nixtamalization . By 3000 years ago, maize was central to Olmec culture, including their calendar, language, and myths. The Mapuche people of south-central Chile cultivated maize along with quinoa and potatoes in pre-Hispanic times. Before
8352-409: The yield. When the popcorn has finished popping, sometimes unpopped kernels remain. Known in the popcorn industry as "old maids", these kernels fail to pop because they do not have enough moisture to create enough steam for an explosion. Re-hydrating prior to popping usually results in eliminating the unpopped kernels. Popcorn varieties are broadly categorized by the shape of the kernels, the color of
8448-451: Was a way to honor his legacy." Redenbacher's business partner, Charles F. Bowman, died in 2009. On September 4, 2012, Valparaiso, Indiana , where Redenbacher resided for much of his life, unveiled a statue of him at the city's annual popcorn festival . In 2012, Redenbacher was referenced by Andy Dwyer in an episode of season 5 of Parks and Recreation . In 2022, Redenbacher was mentioned by American musical comedian Bo Burnham in
8544-437: Was able to keep ticket prices down. The venture was a success, and popcorn soon spread. The rise of television in the 1940s brought lower popcorn consumption as theater attendance fell. The Popcorn Institute (a trade association of popcorn processors) promoted popcorn consumption at home, bringing it back to previous levels. In 1970, Orville Redenbacher 's namesake brand of popcorn was launched. In 1981, General Mills received
8640-520: Was cremated and his ashes scattered at sea. On the September 23, 1995, edition of Siskel & Ebert , Roger Ebert eulogized Redenbacher by calling him "a man who took popcorn seriously, as seriously as we take the movies." His co-host, Gene Siskel , added that "he actually was more than just a cute, cuddly advertising figure. He actually was a scientist who came up with a new strain of popcorn that really kept that whole industry alive [...] that's
8736-555: Was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte . Native Americans planted it alongside beans and squashes in the Three Sisters polyculture . The leafy stalk of the plant gives rise to male inflorescences or tassels which produce pollen , and female inflorescences called ears . The ears yield grain, known as kernels or seeds. In modern commercial varieties, these are usually yellow or white; other varieties can be of many colors. Maize relies on humans for its propagation. Since
8832-458: Was harvested by hand. This involved a large number of workers and associated social events (husking or shucking bees ). From the 1890s onward, some machinery became available to partially mechanize the processes, such as one- and two-row mechanical pickers (picking the ear, leaving the stover ) and corn binders, which are reaper-binders designed specifically for maize. The latter produce sheaves that can be shocked . By hand or mechanical picker,
8928-425: Was introduced into Western farming systems, it was welcomed for its productivity. However, a widespread problem of malnutrition soon arose wherever it had become a staple food . Indigenous Americans had learned to soak maize in alkali -water — made with ashes and lime — since at least 1200–1500 BC, creating the process of nixtamalization. They did this to liberate the corn hulls, but coincidentally it also liberated
9024-530: Was married to Corinne Rosemund Strate from 1928 until her death at 62 in 1971. Later that year, he married Nina Reder, and they remained married until her death at the age of 91 in May 1991. He had two daughters, through whom he had 12 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. On September 19, 1995, Redenbacher died in the hot tub of his condominium in Coronado, California . He suffered a heart attack and drowned. He
9120-466: Was one of the 26 genetically engineered food crops grown commercially in 2016. The vast majority of this is Bt maize . Genetically modified maize has been grown since 1997 in the United States and Canada; by 2016, 92% of the US maize crop was genetically modified. As of 2011, herbicide-tolerant maize and insect-resistant maize varieties were each grown in over 20 countries. In September 2000, up to $ 50 million worth of food products were recalled due to
9216-459: Was popular at theaters, much to the initial displeasure of many of the theater owners, who thought it distracted from the films. Their minds eventually changed, however, and in 1938 a Midwestern theater owner named Glen W. Dickinson Sr. installed popcorn machines in the lobbies of his Dickinson theaters. Popcorn was more profitable than theater tickets, and at the suggestion of his production consultant, R. Ray Aden, Dickinson purchased popcorn farms and
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