maize

Also known as corn plant, maize plant, corn, Zea mays

Maize (; Zea mays), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. The leafy stalk of the plant gives rise to male inflorescences or tassels which produce pollen, and female inflorescences called ears. The ears yield grain, known as kernels or seeds. In modern commercial varieties, these are usually yellow or white; other varieties can be of many colors. Maize was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native Americans planted it alongside beans and squashes in the Three Sisters polycultur

AI overview

Maize, also called corn in North America, is a tall grass plant that produces grain kernels used as cereal, with kernels that are typically yellow or white in modern varieties. Domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico roughly 9,000 years ago, maize became an important crop planted alongside beans and squashes in traditional agriculture.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Species

Least Concern

Common Grackle

species

FamilyPoaceae

Native toGuatemala, Mexico Central, Mexico Southwest

Observations113,345

玉米《科勒藥用植物》(1897), Zea mays 科学分类界：植物界 Plantae 演化支：被子植物 Angiosperms 演化支：单子叶植物 Monocots 演化支：鸭跖草类植物 Commelinids 目：禾本目 Poales 科：禾本科 Poaceae 属：玉米属 Zea 种：玉米 Z. mays 二名法 Zea maysL., 1753 玉米（学名：Zea mays）是一年生禾本科草本植物，是全世界总产量最高的重要粮食作物。同時也可以當作飼料使用，還有在生物科技產業作為乙醇燃料的原材料。而且玉米更在各個化工領域被大量利用著，做成塑膠等等不同的物品。目录 1 名称 2 形态 3 分佈 4 歷史 5 用途 6 特點 7 改造作物 8 藝術 9 參見 10 参考文献 11 外部連結名称据统计，玉米的中文名有100多个，在中国各地都有对其不同的称呼[1]。粵語稱為粟米，閩南語稱作番麥，閩東語平話稱為油甜包，晉語稱玉茭子、玉稻黍等，吴语中称呼比较复杂，上海称珍珠米、苏州称御麥、浙江称六穀，在客家话中以及马来西亚华人地区被普遍称为包粟。北方方言中普遍称为棒子或包穀。东北话称为苞米[2]。玉米在中文中的不同称呼麦类御麦、玉麦[3]，番麦[4]、西天麦[4]、黍麦、戎麦、包麦、苞麦、番大麦、红须麦、夷麦、西番麦、玉林麦黍类玉蜀黍[5]、玉黍、玉稻黍、金稻黍、玉大黍、玉糜黍、大蜀黍、番黍，玉芦黍、蜀黍秫类秫、玉蜀秫[6]、玉秫秫[7]、秫秫、玉秫、大秫秫粱类玉膏粱、玉高粱、大高粱、玉粱、御高粱、独膏粱粟类珍珠粟[8]、鸡头粟、观音粟、意粟、苞粟、天方粟、包粟、珍珠芦粟、饭包粟、鸡豆粟、荷包粟、乳粟、遇粟、意粟、芦粟、罂粟（和作鸦片的罂粟异物同名）、高粟、金豆子粟、鹿角粟、包胎粟穄类玉芦穄、芦穄、秫穄、球穄、珠穄芦类苞芦[9]、腰芦、苞萝米类珍珠米、玉米、包米、包儿米、棒米、六谷米、御米、巴尔米、番米、包粱米、丈谷米、芋米、棒子米、观音米、子米、粟米、包子米、包粒米、老芋米豆类番豆、金豆、玉豆、玉芦豆谷类包谷[10]、苞穀、舜王穀、六谷[11][12]、西番穀其他玉茭茭[7]、玉榴[13]、玉子、戎菽、玉籽、粟包、稖子、玉露、玉蜀、玉穟、腰边豹、苞果、包菽、包罗、棒子[14]、棒椎、芦蜀、榜子、棒槌、苽、稷、包苽、苞果形态黄色的甜玉米 (玉米粒)每100 g（3.5 oz）食物營養值熱量 360 kJ（86 kcal）糖类 19.02 g 糖 3.22 g膳食纖維 2.7 g 脂肪 1.18 g 蛋白質 3.22 g 色氨酸 0.023 g蘇氨酸 0.129 g異亮氨酸 0.129 g亮氨酸 0.348 g賴氨酸 0.137 g蛋氨酸 0.067 g胱氨酸 0.026 g苯丙氨

via IUCN · Kew POWO

Key facts

Agricultural production.year: 2020
Agricultural production.plant: maize
Agricultural production.amount1: 360.3
Agricultural production.amount2: 260.7
Agricultural production.amount3: 104.0
Agricultural production.amount4: 58.4
Agricultural production.amount5: 30.3
Agricultural production.amount6: 30.2
Agricultural production.amount7: 27.4
Agricultural production.amount8: 22.5
Agricultural production.amount9: 15.3
Agricultural production.amount10: 13.9
Agricultural production.world: 1162.4
Agricultural production.source: FAOSTAT

via Wikipedia infobox

Nutrition · Open Food Facts

Typical values per 100 g · averaged across 37 products

bNutri-Score

3NOVA · Processed food

Energy: 185 kcal
Fat: 5.8 g
— of which saturates: 1.1 g
Carbohydrates: 30.2 g
— of which sugars: 3 g
Fibre: 4.9 g
Protein: 4 g
Salt: 74.28 g

Browse on Open Food Facts →

via Open Food Facts · ODbL

Research

104,066 papers

Single-cell transcriptomic profiling of maize cell heterogeneity and systemic immune responses against Puccinia polysora Underw.Plant biotechnology journal · 2025Yan XC, Liu Q, Yang Q et al.DOI: 10.1111/pbi.14519
Global maize production, utilization, and consumption.ReviewAnnals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2014Ranum P, Peña-Rosas JP, Garcia-Casal MNDOI: 10.1111/nyas.12396
Processing maize flour and corn meal food products.ReviewAnnals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2014Gwirtz JA, Garcia-Casal MNDOI: 10.1111/nyas.12299
Maize's origin to be revisited.Plant signaling & behavior · 2024Moustafa KDOI: 10.1080/15592324.2024.2332017
Maize genetics.Year book - Carnegie Institution of Washington · 1946McCLINTOCK B
Phosphorus acquisition, translocation, and redistribution in maize.ReviewJournal of genetics and genomics = Yi chuan xue bao · 2025Guo HL, Tian MZ, Ri X et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.jgg.2024.09.018
Bt maize and integrated pest management--a European perspective.ReviewPest management science · 2011Meissle M, Romeis J, Bigler FDOI: 10.1002/ps.2221
Designing a nitrogen-efficient cold-tolerant maize for modern agricultural systems.ReviewThe Plant cell · 2025Ojeda-Rivera JO, Barnes AC, Ainsworth EA et al.DOI: 10.1093/plcell/koaf139

via PubMed

Wikidata facts

Image: Étale de grains de maïs 01.jpg

Show 12 more facts

Commons category: Zea mays
taxon name: Zea mays
Commons gallery: Zea mays
GRIN URL: npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxonomydetail.aspx?id=42207
taxon common name: حِنْطَة الجِرْذَان
Unicode character: 🌽
sequenced genome URL: plants.ensembl.org/Zea_mays
carbon footprint: 0.7
water footprint: 700
short name: Z. mays
taxon author citation: L.
external data available at URL: www.gbif.org/dataset/31dc1507-a6e1-4233-a8df-c7a78596a7e4

Sources (12)

via Wikidata · CC0

~33 min read

Article

28 sections

Contents

Description
Genetics
Taxonomy
External phylogeny
Maize and teosinte
Spreading to the north
Names
Cultivation
Pre-Columbian development
Columbian exchange
Conventional breeding
Genetic engineering
Growing
Harvesting
Grain storage
Production
Pests
Uses
Culinary
Nutritional value
Animal feed
Chemicals
Biofuel
In human culture
See also
References
Further reading
External links

Maize relies on humans for its propagation. Since the Columbian exchange, it has become a staple food in many parts of the world, with the total production of maize surpassing that of wheat and rice. Much maize is used for animal feed, whether as grain (fodder) or as the whole plant, which can either be baled as forage or made into the more palatable silage. Sugar-rich varieties called sweet corn are grown for human consumption, while field corn varieties are used for animal feed, for uses such as cornmeal or masa, corn starch, corn syrup, pressing into corn oil, alcoholic beverages like bourbon whiskey, and as chemical feedstocks including ethanol and other biofuels.