Maize /meɪz/ (Zea mays), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain.

As a food, maize is used to make a wide variety of dishes including Mexican tortillas and tamales, Italian polenta, and American hominy grits.

[9] Before 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.

[13] 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.

[19][20] In countries that primarily use the term maize, the word corn may denote any cereal crop, varying geographically with the local staple,[21] such as wheat in England and oats in Scotland or Ireland.

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.

[31] Immature maize shoots accumulate a powerful antibiotic substance, 2,4-dihydroxy-7-methoxy-1,4-benzoxazin-3-one (DIMBOA), which provides a measure of protection against a wide range of pests.

[36] Because of its shallow roots, maize is susceptible to droughts, intolerant of nutrient-deficient soils, and prone to being uprooted by severe winds.

[38] Barbara McClintock used maize to validate her transposon theory of "jumping genes", for which she won the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Modern breeding began with individuals who selected highly productive varieties in their fields and then sold seed to other farmers.

Both conventional cross-breeding and genetic engineering have succeeded in increasing output and reducing the need for cropland, pesticides, water and fertilizer.

[50][51] A fast-flowering variety named mini-maize was developed to aid scientific research, as multiple generations can be obtained in a single year.

[53] The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) operates a conventional breeding program to provide optimized strains.

[61] In September 2000, up to $50 million worth of food products were recalled due to the presence of Starlink genetically modified corn, which had been approved only for animal consumption.

[63] 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 is the domesticated variant of the four species of teosintes, which are its crop wild relatives.

[64] 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.

parviglumis, native to the Balsas River valley in Mexico's southwestern highlands, as the crop wild relative genetically most similar to modern maize.

[69] 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.

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.

Sweet corn is harvested in the "milk stage", after pollination but before starch has formed, between late summer and early to mid-autumn.

The importance of sufficient soil moisture is shown in many parts of Africa, where periodic drought regularly causes maize crop failure and consequent famine.

This can require large amounts of energy in the form of combustible gases (propane or natural gas) and electricity to power the blowers.

After ceramic vessels were invented the Olmec people began to cook maize together with beans, improving the nutritional value of the staple meal.

In a 100-gram serving, maize kernels provide 86 calories and are a good source (10–19% of the Daily Value) of the B vitamins, thiamin, niacin (if freed), pantothenic acid (B5) and folate.

[109] Maize has suboptimal amounts of the essential amino acids tryptophan and lysine, which accounts for its lower status as a protein source.

When the whole maize plant (grain plus stalks and leaves) is used for fodder, it is usually chopped and made into silage, as this is more digestible and more palatable to ruminants than the dried form.

[112] Baled cornstalks offer an alternative to hay for animal feed, alongside direct grazing of maize grown for this purpose.

[114] Corn steep liquor, a plentiful watery byproduct of maize wet milling process, is used in the biochemical industry and research as a culture medium to grow microorganisms.

[121] The Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota, uses cobs and ears of colored maize to implement a mural design that is recycled annually.

In the months before the 1973 Chilean coup d'etat anti-Allende protestors threw maize at military barracks in a call to depose him.