One of the best things about summer is sweet corn. We’ve had it almost every night for supper this week. The two nights we didn’t, my kids whined like I just told them they have to give away their favorite toy. I don’t blame them though. What’s not to love about sweet corn? It’s not only delicious, but it’s fun to eat and fun prepare too. My kids love helping husk sweet corn. It’s a mess and takes longer than if I did it myself, but it’s well worth it. They have a blast, and I love the non-stop questions they ask. “What makes sweet corn sweet?” “Why does corn have hair?” “Is this the same corn that cows eat?” I usually give them pretty simple answers, but their questions got me thinking about the science behind the whys. Below are some of their questions, as well as questions about corn that I’ve been asked by students and teachers over the years.
It’s all about sugar. Not cane sugar or beet sugar, but natural sugars that occur in plants. Sweet corn kernels have a very high sugar content when harvested at right time. I’ll go into more detail about this later.
What is the difference between the corn we eat (sweet corn) and animals eat (field corn)?
Although they are closely related, they look different, taste different and are used for different things. Sweet corn is a naturally occurring genetic mutation of field corn. The sweet corn plant is shorter, matures faster, and its kernels have a higher sugar content. Field corn is harvested in the fall, after the plant dies and the seeds are dry and hard. Field corn has a much higher starch content and is used to make livestock feed, ethanol, corn meal, corn starch, corn syrup and more. Check out our blog post from last year to learn more about the difference between sweet corn and field corn. Sweet corn Field corn
Nope. Iowa doesn’t even make the top 20 list. Our growing season is too short and we are not home to any major canned or frozen vegetable companies. Sweet corn is only harvested in Iowa from July through early September. The fresh corn we eat the rest of the year comes from warmer states like Florida, California, and Georgia. Most of the frozen and canned corn we purchase is grown in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the Pacific Northwest states. These states are home to many major vegetable processors who contact local farmers to grow sweet corn they use. Iowa’s landscape is covered with corn fields, but nearly all of it is field corn. Less than 1% of the corn grown in Iowa is sweet corn.
True sweet corn connoisseurs, including most farmers I know, prefer to eat corn the day it is picked. That is because it tastes better! When freshly picked, sweet corn is high in sugar and low in starch. As sweet corn sits after picking, the sugars in the kernel turn to starch. This mutes the flavor and affects its texture when cooked.
Having said that, it is completely safe to store in the refrigerator for up to a week. Be sure to leave the husks on until you are ready to cook it though. The husks help seal in the moisture and slow the conversion of sugars to starch.
Both. Botanically speaking, an ear of sweet corn is a fruit (the seed producing part of the plant). Tomatoes, squash, peppers and other seed-containing vegetables are technically fruits too. In culinary terms, corn is considered a vegetable because it is a relatively unsweet edible plant part. If you really want your head spinning with botanical lingo, check-out this fun video from SciShow. I think it is more entertaining than most prime-time TV, but I am admittedly a plant-loving science geek.
Corn purchased in the winter, is grown in southern states like Florida. It can be several days to a few weeks form the time it is picked until you buy it at the store. During this time, sugar in the corn converts to starch making it less sweet and tender. Growers and distributors store and transport corn in refrigerated units to slow this process, but there’s no way to stop effects of time completely.
Although they are a big nuisance while cleaning and eating sweet corn, those “hairs” are extremely important. Corn kernels couldn’t develop without silks. In simple terms, the silk is a tiny tube that pollen travels down to make the kernels of corn. Corn is monecious, meaning it has both male and female flowers on the same plant. The corn silk is the female flower and the tassel at the top of the corn plant is the male flower. During pollination, pollen from the tassel is carried by wind to the silks. Pollen grains attach to the sticky end each silk, and then travel down the silks to fertilize each ovary. After pollination, the ovary develops into a kernel of corn at the other end of the each strand of silk. Take a look the next time you husk corn, and you will notice that there is a silk attached to each kernel.
Sweet corn should be harvested at the milk stage. As the name implies, the kernels are full of a milky-looking juice when ready to pick. To test, growers will pierce the soft kernels with their thumbnail to look for the milk, or even bite into a raw ear to test for sweetness. Immature corn will ooze a clear liquid, while over-mature sweet corn kernels are tough and almost doughy inside.
There are also visual cues that you can use at the store without pulling back the husks. Ready-to-eat ears are plump. The silks at the end are brown and starting to dry, but the husks are still bright green and supple. Skinny ears with extra pointy ends and white silks are immature. These are signs that pollination just occurred and the kernels inside are not fully formed. Also avoid buying ears with completely dry silks and husks that are pale green, brownish, dry-looking. This indicates over-mature or not freshly picked corn.
You can eat it, but it won’t taste nearly as good. Field corn also goes through a milk stage like sweet corn. As mentioned earlier, field corn has a much higher starch. This makes the kernels considerably less sweet and much tougher, even when harvested during the milk stage.
What other questions do you have? Ask away! I’d love to answer your questions and help simplify the science of sweet corn.
As corn kernels dry the sugar in them converts to starch; harvesting the sweet corn at an early stage in maturation allows higher contents of sugars to remain in the grain making the corn sweet. Sweetness in corn is a naturally occurring recessive gene that humans have been enjoying since the Native Americans.
Sweet corn should be harvested at the milk stage. As the name implies, the kernels are full of a milky-looking juice when ready to pick. To test, growers will pierce the soft kernels with their thumbnail to look for the milk, or even bite into a raw ear to test for sweetness. Immature corn will ooze a clear liquid, while over-mature sweet corn kernels are tough and almost doughy inside.
You can eat it, but it won’t taste nearly as good. Field corn also goes through a milk stage like sweet corn. As mentioned earlier, field corn has a much higher starch. This makes the kernels considerably less sweet and much tougher, even when harvested during the milk stage.
What other questions do you have? Ask away! I’d love to answer your questions and help simplify the science of sweet corn.
Both. Botanically speaking, an ear of sweet corn is a fruit (the seed producing part of the plant). Tomatoes, squash, peppers and other seed-containing vegetables are technically fruits too. In culinary terms, corn is considered a vegetable because it is a relatively unsweet edible plant part. If you really want your head spinning with botanical lingo, check-out this fun video from SciShow. I think it is more entertaining than most prime-time TV, but I am admittedly a plant-loving science geek.
What is the difference between the corn we eat (sweet corn) and animals eat (field corn)?
Why is corn sweet?
FAQ
Why corn in the US is sweet?
Is corn sweeter than it used to be?
How did corn become sweet?
Why is there only sweet corn?