“Let your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food.” [Hippocrates] This is particularly true when considering maize in the diet! In all its different forms – whether grain maize or silage maize for animals, sweet corn, cornmeal or processed products for humans – maize is a universal nutritional treasure. Everywhere around the world, it is used to feed animals, with the assurance that it will produce healthy and flavourful meat; when included directly in a human diet, it provides vitamins, carbohydrates and fibre. It is an energy-rich grain, a nutritious champion with a wealth of starch, protein and “good” lipids. Maize consumption has been steadily increasing around the world and in some countries it is part of the staple diet. In fact, it is the most widely grown plant in the world. .
ENERGY-RICH FOOD, PART OF A BALANCED DIET
Maize is 100% good – no wastage! The central part of the maize seed, the kernel, comprises 80% of the seed or grain. It contains starch granules and is an excellent source of carbohydrates. The germ is rich in protein and “good” lipids. Maize has a key role to play in a balanced diet.
The energy content has certainly been noticed by animal farmers, and around the world they have used maize extensively, e.g. as fodder for cows and as grain for poultry and pigs. They know from experience that maize-fed animals produce healthy, tasty meat providing a source of gastronomic delight, and also produces value added. There is also the health side, as has been observed in a number of medical studies published in the United States acclaiming the "French paradox", referring to the diet in south-western France (including, for example, foie gras, red wine, grain and cereals) linked to a long and healthy life.
Humans too can gain directly from this nutritional treasure-trove. Maize fulfils many daily requirements for the human body. In certain poor or rural countries in Africa and Central America, maize is the most important staple food in the diet. In Mexico, the cradle of maize for more than a millennium, it is served in pancake-type forms with almost all Mexican dishes, e.g. nachos, tortillas and quesadillas, and is also eaten fresh on the cob – the ultimate delight! In Europe, maize had been adopted by the end of the Middle Ages, to feed the peasants and as protection against famine. Some traces of this past can still be found today, with dishes such as polenta in Italy and the south of France, or “milliasse”, a tortilla-like pancake made with cornmeal. But maize has reached nobler heights since then!
SPECIAL DIETARY FEATURES Maize is nutritional and is recognised for its dietary properties, widely used in modern society. Sweet corn – delicious, crisp yellow kernels – can be added to salads, providing starch and protein, and low fat content – a star to include in any diet!
The oil extracted from maize germ is very healthy as it contains linoleic acid, an essential fatty acid. And many modern food product contain corn starch used as a binding agent, sweetener or thickener.
Nutritional Content of Sweet Corn
Sweet corn is low in fat; it contains fewer calories and more protein than rice; it also contains five times more fibre, essential for proper digestion. It contains most of the B‑group vitamins, so often missing from today’s refined food. The energy contained in sweet corn is 97 kcal (410 kilojoules) per 100g.
Maize – Nutritional Qualities
