Corn (Zea Mays)

The Flowers
The corn has three mail flowers and female flowers, the distance between them on the same plant being 50 – 80 centimeters. For the fecundation bees are not necessary but just a bit of wind to shake the corn. At the top of the corn plant mail flowers are to be found in the shape of a well developed ear, with personality. At the half of the plant the female flowers are found reunited under the form of a cob with long some strings, known as the corn silk. A field of corn in blossom is a true ocean of pollen.

The Leaves
Very oblong with a powerful nervure, the corn leaves are themselves the symbol of vitality. They have certain harshness and something of the strength and sharpness of a knife blade. They have a lot of chlorophyll, a sign that they greedily absorb and use the light. They do not live long. In approximately 90 days they reach their full strength and die. From the seed or grain to another grain, new and still promising, the corn encloses an exceptional vegetal dream.

The Stem
It’s straight, gnarled, and very powerful. Beyond its peel which is woody in maturity, in the secret interior there can be found a sponge with thick saps. The maximum height that a corn stem can reach is 3 meters. So, the corn field is constituted of a forest, a vegetal consistent mass which is similar to the fields of banana trees, having the same huge all-embracing breathing. Let’s not forget that the corn just like the banana tree is a plant with aphrodisiac qualities.

The corn cob and the grains
The cob represents with no doubt the essence of the whole vegetal effort of the corn. The beans, put in rows, carry in them powers which were known and used wisely in the past by some enchanted people. These people were the Mayans, the old inhabitants of America. Today, as we know, they are gone into history and it has been left only for us the mission to rediscover the corn. Still, the conclusion that the corn might have aphrodisiac properties is no way old. Only recently, respected scientists have confirmed with no doubt that corn can be included in the lists of aphrodisiacs.

Scientific and common names
This graminaceae brought into Europe from beyond the Atlantic, carries the name of its first servants – the Mayans. It was called Zea mays

Medicinal products
In medicinal preparations the corn silk is usually used through tradition. Corn silk is harvested during blossoming or immediately after. It has diuretic, soporific, haemostatic, sedative and cleanser properties. The corn silk is used in liver and kidney illnesses, in cardiac insufficiency, menstrual disturbances, but mainly in liver, kidney and urinary tracts pains. No aphrodisiac effects have been observed due to the consumption of foods based on corn silk. The corn flour, practically the main agent with aphrodisiac properties, is recommended in the diet of diabetics. The oil, an important product in the process of preparing the corn beans, has beneficial effects in case of high cholesterol, bile illnesses, allergies, head aches.

Usual dishes
The already famous preparation is corn mush. Well, exactly this simple food (water, salt and corn flour) is “blamed” of aphrodisiac effects. This means that our great, great ancestors ate 10 mouthfuls of corn mush with garlic and they were already apt to make love. Seems plausible, seems convincing. Apart from corn flour and corn mush, from the corn beans alcohol is produced (including whiskey), but also corn flakes, oil, starch. In the early phase, the corn is pleasantly consumed in the shape of boiled or grilled cobs. Remarkable for its properties is the flour made of white corn, from which a much more tasty and nourishing than bread mush is made. Unfortunately, white corn (the seed have the color of decorticated rise) is very rarely met. Very appreciated lately is the corn in the shape of pop corn, which is made out of a specially made variety - Zea mays everta. Pop corn keeps the qualities of the corn bean and so it can have a toughening effect on the organism.

Contraindications
The preparations out of corn grains have absolutely no unpleasant or toxic effect on the human organism. Corn mush and all the other foods obtained from corn grains can be unlimitedly eaten, without the fear of an unpleasant consequence. We could launch ourselves still in an observation. Does the corn have any influence over the behavior of people? If we remember well, even the old natives of America were characterized through calm, balance and goodness and definitely not aggressiveness. Does corn determine such qualities at the eaters of corn mush, tarts and corn burns?

Who can use the corn grains?
It must not be forgotten that the corn grains are a food and that corn was almost divine to the natives in America, having been cropped by them since 4 000 years ago. Nobody has a restriction regarding corn mush; nobody is stopped considering the corn mush that, on the round plank from the middle of the table of the peasant family, has represented for hundreds of years the sun itself or more likely the moon. The yellow color of the corn mush cannot be taken for something else.

Active principles
The corn grain is a small and generous deposit with everything. Corn flour has a specific smell, which seems to suggest internal combustions. In its structure a series of significant mineral salts are found (potassium, sodium, manganese, iron, phosphor, iodine, copper). The vitamins B1, b2, B6, PP are not absent. The protides, lipids, glucides, carotene continue but do not close the list of substances that the corn grain has. The peasant traditional kitchen included in current consumption not only the corn flour but also the corn grouts. It is possible that the grinding in the shape of grouts is a better keeper of the properties of the corn. Pop corn can be considered a variant of grouts.

The impulse
Like in the case of many other seeds, neither the corn grains have uncovered all their secrets. Is there an unknown substance responsible of the aphrodisiac effects of the corn grains? Possibly, because none of the known substances in the structure of the corn grain is aphrodisiac. Still, the beneficial effects exist. What would the explanation be? It’s hard to say in the present moment, but it is sure that through the consumption of corn a better functioning of the organism is obtained, insuring a better elimination of toxic, poisoning elements from all the systems that play a role in digestion and in the interaction with the surrounding media. Practically, corn determines a better harmonizing with nature, a reinstallation of the human in the natural circuit. So, the conflict state between the human and nature, which in our days is more and more accentuated, is reduced.

Corn-Based Recipes