Zea Mays,Sweet Corn,the uses and benefit of corn.maize...

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Common and Medicinal Uses of Corn.

Sweet corn Extract INCI Name Zea Mays Extract CAS 84696-06-0 photo picture image The grain is taken from the husk by hand, and when ground upon stones, makes an excellent flour, of which it yields much more, with much less bran, than wheat does, and exceeds it in crust, pancakes, puddings, and all other uses except bread; but a sweetness peculiar to it, which in all other cases makes it agreeable, is here less so. It is excellent for feeding horses, poultry and hogs, and fattens them much better and sooner than peas or barley. The stems make better hedges for kitchen garden than reeds do. It clears the ground from weeds, and makes a good season for any other kind of grain. It was the only bread-grain known in America when first discovered by the Spaniardss, and is there called maize.
In 1940, Barbara McClintock received the Nobel Prize in Medicine for discovery of the first transposons in maize.
Sweet corn Extract INCI Name Zea Mays Extract CAS 84696-06-0 photo picture image

During the mid 1960s, about 75 percent of the corn was fed to livestock, 13 percent was exported, and the remainder went into human food and industrial products. By 2000, the relative amount of corn fed to livestock had decreased to 60 percent, 22 percent was exported, 6 percent was used for High-Fructose Corn Sweetener, 6 percent was processed for ethanol, and 6 percent went into other products.

Between 90 and 95 percent of the crop is harvested for grain; the remaining 5 to 10 percent is grown for silage. Of the corn fed to livestock in 1960, about 40 percent went to hogs, 20 percent to poultry, 30 percent to cattle on feed and milk cows, and 10 percent to other types of livestock. By 2000, these amounts had shifted to 29 percent to cattle on feed, 29 percent to poultry, 24 percent to hogs, 16 percent to dairy cattle, and 2 percent to other types of livestock.

One reference lists over 500 different uses for corn. Corn is a component of canned corn, baby food, hominy, mush, puddings, tamales, and many more human foods.
Sweet corn Extract INCI Name Zea Mays Extract CAS 84696-06-0 photo picture image

Some industrial uses of corn include filler for plastics, packing materials, insulating materials, adhesives, chemicals, explosives, paint, paste, abrasives, dyes, insecticides, pharmaceuticals, organic acids, solvents, rayon, antifreeze, soaps, and many more.

Corn also is used as the major study plant for many academic disciplines such as genetics, physiology, soil fertility and biochemistry. It is doubtful that any other plant has been studied as extensively as has the corn plant.
A bushel of shelled corn weighs 56 pounds.
Sweet corn Extract INCI Name Zea Mays Extract CAS 84696-06-0 photo picture image

Traditional herb Corn meal has been used by Native Americans for a wide range of ailments. It makes an effective poultice and has been used in Mayan, Incan, and American folk medicine to treat bruises, swellings, sores, boils, and similar conditions. Vogel in American Indian Medicine (1970) stated that "the Chickasaw Indians treated itching skin, followed by sores when scratched, by burning old corncobs and holding the affected part over the smoke."

Urinary remedy Partly due to its significant potassium content, corn silk is a useful diuretic for almost all problems of the urinary system. Corn silk soothes and relaxes the lining of the urinary tubules and bladder, relieving irritation and improving urine flow and elimination. Corn silk is also helpful for frequent urination caused by irritation of the bladder and urethral walls, and for difficulty in passing urine such as in prostate disorders.
Sweet corn Extract INCI Name Zea Mays Extract CAS 84696-06-0 photo picture image

Kidney stones Corn silk is thought to have a beneficial effect on the kidneys, reducing kidney stone formation and relieving some of the symptoms of existing stones.

Cystitis Chronic cystitis can be relieved with corn silk and and it is a useful adjunct to other treatments for acute cystitis.

Chinese remedy In China, corn silk is used to treat fluid retention and jaundice.

Other medical uses Temporomandibular joint syndrome or disorder TMJ (TMD).

Medicinal Action and Uses

Diuretic and mild stimulant. A good emollient poultice for ulcers, swellings, rheumatic pains. An infusion of the parched corn allays nausea and vomiting in many diseases. Cornmeal makes a palatable and nutritious gruel and is an excellent diet for convalescents.

Cancer; Cholagogue; Demulcent; Diuretic; Hypoglycaemic; Hypotensive; Lithontripic; Stimulant; Vasodilator; Warts.

A decoction of the leaves and roots is used in the treatment of strangury, dysuria and gravel.

The corn silks are cholagogue, demulcent, diuretic, lithontripic, mildly stimulant and vasodilator. They also act to reduce blood sugar levels and so are used in the treatment of diabetes mellitus as well as cystitis, gonorrhoea, gout etc. The silks are harvested before pollination occurs and are best used when fresh because they tend to lose their diuretic effect when stored and also become purgative.

A decoction of the cob is used in the treatment of nose bleeds and menorrhagia.

The seed is diuretic and a mild stimulant. It is a good emollient poultice for ulcers, swellings and rheumatic pains[4], and is widely used in the treatment of cancer, tumours and warts. It contains the cell-proliferant and wound-healing substance allantoin, which is widely used in herbal medicine (especially from the herb comfrey, Symphytum officinale) to speed the healing process.
The plant is said to have anticancer properties and is experimentally hypoglycaemic and hypotensive.