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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Raleigh, North Carolina » Plant Science Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #425745
Research Project: Genetic Diversity and Disease Resistance in Maize

Location: Plant Science Research

Title: Improving culinary corns for the Southeastern United States

Author
item Holland, James

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/1/2025
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Corn that is best for food uses is different from commodity corn that represents that vast majority of corn commercially produced in the USA. Different food uses call for different types of corn grain, including varying colors, seed hardness, and sizes. For example, very hard "flinty" corn kernels are best for milling grits, whereas as softer grain types are better for hominy and pozole. A wide variety of kernel types and potential food uses exists in the USDA's National Plant Germplasm System. This collection includes about 1000 open-pollinated varieties grown across the USA before the introduction of hybrids. We are evaluating this collection to provide growers information on the adaptation and grain types of the available populations. In addition, we have begun selection within a few populations with novel food uses to improve their agronomic performance.

Technical Abstract: Maize was domesticated and shaped into a food crop adapted to a vast array of ecologies from Canada to Chile and Argentina by indigenous Americans before European contact. A strong culture of using maize for food continues in Mexico, but almost all corn produced in the USA today is intended for animal feed or industrial processing into a food component or ethanol. Little attention has been given to improving corn for culinary uses, except for sweet and pop corns. Chefs, seed savers, and specialty farmers are interested in older heirloom corn varieties with greater culinary value than typical USA dent corn. We are evaluating one thousand collections of historical open-pollinated varieties from the USA held in the USDA seed bank and breeding for improved agronomic performance (primarily resistance to ear rots and lodging) in a handful of diverse and distinct historical maize types to support local food systems.