Maize

© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Maize is the leading cereal crop in terms of worldwide production, and it is used for the production of an array of human foods, animal feeds, biofuels, and other industrial uses. Maize originated in Mesoamerica and is a cereal crop with great genetic variability. The most relevant types are yellow, white, sweet, popcorn, blue, waxy, and quality protein. These have unique properties in terms of nutritional value, starch functionality, nutraceutical properties, and use for the preparation of foods. In terms of human foods, maize is usually channeled into three major milling industries: dry, wet, and nixtamalization, which generate raw materials that are further transformed into breakfast cereals, snacks (popcorn, extruded- and lime-cooked), yeast and chemically leavened bakery items, tortillas, corn syrups, beer, and distilled spirits. The nutritional qualities of these industrialized and traditional foods greatly impact the status of many civilizations throughout the world.

Maize Book in Scopus