Module 8-corn Flashcards
how long ago was teosinte was domesticated
Nine thousand years ago, in what is now southern Mexico, a cereal grain known as teosinte was domesticated
what became today’s corn
The native teosinte plant with numerous long branches with as many as hundreds of small ears, each ear bearing ten small kernels protected by a tough casing was destined to become today’s corn with one or two short branches yielding one or two ears that bear several hundred easily accessed grains
where do teosintes still grow natively today
The ancestral teosinte with its little ears of two entwined rows of well-armoured kernels still grows in its native range that covers most of the western part of Mesoamerica from the State of Chihuahua in Mexico to the Pacific coast of Nicaragua and Costa Rica
what gave corn breeder a big basis to select for today’s corn
the native teosinte plant was genetically and phenotypically variable, providing the early crop geneticists with great material from which to select the plants that were used to create future generations
where was the teosinte plants brought
The teosinte plants were adapted to growing in a variety of environments and the early domesticates were carried throughout South and North America Europeans arriving in the Americas transported the plants to Europe and from there they were distributed across Asia and Africa and carried to Australia and New Zealand
where does the descendants of teosinte grow today
The descendant of teosinte, domesticated corn, now grows around the globe.
what can corn also be known as
Corn (Zea mays L.), also known as maize
what did corn do to indigenous people found in Mexico
it was a staple crop It was also central to their culture. Corn also nourished the indigenous peoples of Canada
what were the 3 sister crops by the Iroquois people
Corn, beans and squash were known as the Three Sisters by the Iroquois people and were planted together
what are some ways corn was used by the canadian indigenous
Mainly used to prepare breads, corn was also used in soups and puddings, it was eaten green or mature on the cob, it was roasted or parched for travelling. Roasted corn was also used to make a coffee-like drink and stalks were chewed to quench thirst
what are some uses of corn today in canada
We don’t just pop it and munch it on the cob; corn can be turned into flour and syrup, it is fed to livestock, it is transformed into ethanol and it can even be used to make plastic
how much of food calories for humans does corn provide
Corn yields more than six percent of all food calories for humans
in Canada, the United States and Europe how much corn is consumed directly as food
less then one precent
In South and Central America, Mexico, India and Africa, what is most corn used for
its used directly for human consumption
how does a corn kernel compare to a wheat kernel
The basic kernel structure of corn is similar to that of wheat, although it is much larger being approximately ten times the size of the wheat kernel
