Sweet Corn
Baby Corn

Home / Origin:

Fossilized corn cobs have been dated to approx. 80,000 years BC. Their home is southern Mexico. Until some years ago, corn was considered a feed plant only in Europe. Even cooked, its taste was considered inferior. No surprise. Because there are major differences between feed corn and sweet corn. The sweet corn ripens earlier, has smaller cobs and more tender and pleasantly tasting sugar-rich kernels than the feed corn. Main producer is the US. But it is also grown in France, Spain, Israel, Great Britain and the Netherlands and Germany, mainly in Baden. Today, more than 300 corn varieties are known, almost all of them American.

Description:

The corn plant is an annual, has long leaves (0.5-1m) and grows up to 2.5m high. The sweet corn kernels shrink at full ripening - like marrow peas -, whereas the common corn remains full and smooth. Fresh sweet corn is very nourishing and is considered a diet food. If ideally balanced, the kernels contain, besides 72% water, carbohydrates, protein, fat, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, iron, and traces of sodium, provitamin A, the vitamins B, B2, B3, B6, and approx. 12mg% C. Compared to normal corn, the sugar to starch conversion proceeds slowly. In milk-ripe condition and shortly after harvest, the kernels evidence a high sugar content. This sugar content is decreased by 50% after 8 days of storage. Baby corn is defined as 8 to 10cm maximum long and unripe small cobs, with white to cream coloured soft kernels, which are a visually appealing piquant side dish in mixed pickles or "vinegar-marinated corn cobs". Baby corn becomes more popular.

Marketing :

Sweet corn is available all year long. It is harvested by hand during cool weather when milk-ripe. At this time, the kernels are round, glossy, plump not shrunk, and - except for some kernels at the cob tip (not more than 3cm) - yellow to slightly orange coloured. When scratching a kernel, with e.g. the finger nail, a milky-white juice must emerge. The proper harvest time is recognized when the strings at the cob end, the so-called silk, begin to turn brown. Sweet corn harvested too late, is gluey and floury, shrinks and loses sweetness and taste. It must be acknowledged, that the sugar content decreases significantly within a few days, and sweet corn does not taste truly sweet after more than 6 days. For this reason, it should be marketed, quickly chilled to 0°C (on ice), and sold. Even at 0°C, the sugar loss still proceeds. In a warm environment, the kernels lose 50% of their sugar content within 2 hours. Hence, the consumer should eat the corn on the day of purchase or store it quickly in the refrigerator. Any storage results in loss of sugar and quality. The husk leaves must be removed for any type of storage, in order to reduce an evaporation of the cobs.