Full Answer
Can dent corn be eaten?
Dent corn is primarily used in the production of ethanol, as feed for livestock, and to make sweeteners. Tortilla chips, snack foods, and masa can come from yellow dent corn or white dent corn, the latter of which is most often dry-milled for human consumption.
What causes dent in corn?
The "dent"' is caused by the greater shrinkage of the soft starch when it dries. Grains of flint corn also contain both kinds of starch, but the layer of hard starch extends entirely over the tip of the grain, making a rigid outer shell that does not shrink.
What is the meaning of dent corn?
Meaning of dent corn in English a type of field corn (= a plant with yellow seeds grown mainly to feed animals) whose seeds become indented (= pushed in) as it grows: Our dent corn is mainly used to feed livestock. Yellow dent corn is ground to produce a type of flour. Compare. field corn.
What is the dent stage in corn?
This is the “dent stage” (R5) and signals a rapid starch accumulation in the kernels.At this point, and for the next 20 days or so, a distinct line begins to form, starting at the crown of the kernel and progressively moving toward the tip. This is referred to as the kernel milk line.
Can dent corn be popped?
The other kinds of corn (dent, flint, flour, pod and sweet corns) don't have the right combinations of starch, husk and moisture to pop properly.
How long does dented corn last?
Finally, selecting the right type of corn for your needs can help you determine how long it will last in long-term storage. For example, dent corn, which is commonly used to make Massa or corn flour, can last upwards of 20 years when stored in airtight containers and kept in a cool place.
What percent of corn is dent corn?
Field, or dent, corn is the most widely grown corn in the U.S. and makes up 99% of corn production. Field corn is harvested after the ear reaches physical maturity.
Is dent corn the same as field corn?
Dent corn is often used as livestock feed, in industrial products, or to make processed foods. Dent corn is also frequently referred to as "field" corn. Either white or yellow, dent kernals contain both hard and soft starch that become indented at maturity.
How do you know when corn is ready to pick from dents?
You can technically harvest dent corn at its milk stage and roast it like you would sweet corn, which means harvesting when the kernels leak a milky sap when punctured. This typically occurs around 70 to 80 days after germination.
How long does it take corn from dent to black layer?
It takes 20-25 days for corn to get to black layer after it dents. If your corn is dented and showing a milk line half way down, then you are looking at 16-20 days till black layer. Corn Maturity is a process driven by GDUs (heat units) so more heat and it will progress quicker; cooler temperatures prolong the process.
What does dent corn look like?
Dent corn, also known as grain corn, is a type of field corn with a high soft starch content. It received its name because of the small indentation, or "dent", at the crown of each kernel on a ripe ear of corn. Reid's Yellow Dent is a variety developed by central Illinois farmer James L.
What does rotting corn look like?
Under highly favorable weather conditions, entire ears may become colonized, turn grayish-brown in color and lightweight (mummified), with kernels, cobs, and ear leaves that are rotted and soft. Rotted kernels may germinate prematurely, particularly if the ears remain upright after physiological maturity.
What is yellow dent corn?
Most of the corn grown in the US is yellow dent corn, named for the dimple-like dents on the top of the corn kernels when ready for harvest. By the time we see this type of corn, though, it’s in the form of tortilla chips, corn flakes, corn oil or HFCS, or converted into the “invisible corn” used for livestock feed that ends up on our plates in ...
How is corn processed?
How Corn Is Processed. To create many corn products and derivatives like ethanol, the corn must be processed in one of two ways: wet or dry milling. Wet milling, as its name implies, uses water and a light dose of hydrochloric acid to help break the kernels into its components.
What is high fructose corn syrup?
High Fructose Corn Syrup. Many processed products on grocery store shelves contain corn sweeteners. To enhance sweetness, corn syrup or starch (made from dent corn) is converted to HFCS that can be used in place of sugar. HFCS can be found in ketchup, breakfast cereals, salad dressings, juice, sodas and many, many other processed products.
What is corn starch used for?
Corn starch is also used in cosmetics, medicines and biodegradable packaging. Dry milling is a more traditional method of corn processing, where the kernels are ground into a powder. Corn ethanol production facilities usually use this method to produce the feedstock for the fermentation process.
How does corn affect the environment?
But it’s not just our public health that is impacted by corn. Increased corn acreage can impact ecologically sensitive areas like grasslands and riparian buffers. These areas can slow nutrient runoff and provide habitat for animals. Without these buffers, nutrients can enter water bodies creating toxic algal blooms and dead zones. Corn monocrops can also affect biodiversity through habitat loss and/or pesticide use can harm local populations of insects and plants. And the vast majority of industrial corn is now of several GMO varieties.
What is the process of processing corn?
To produce many traditional corn foods, the corn kernels are subjected to the nixtamalization process, a traditional method of processing corn originally developed by the Aztecs and the Maya, where the grain is soaked and cooked in an alkaline solution, often consisting of lime (calcium hydroxide).
How does corn monocrop affect biodiversity?
Corn monocrops can also affect biodiversity through habitat loss and/or pesticide use can harm local populations of insects and plants. And the vast majority of industrial corn is now of several GMO varieties.
Why is corn called dent corn?
Dent corn is named for its dented kernels. Dent corn, also known as grain corn is a type of field corn with a high soft starch content. It received its name because of the small indentation, or "dent", at the crown of each kernel on a ripe ear of corn.
What is yellow dent corn?
Most of the corn grown in the United States today is yellow dent corn or a closely related variety derived from it. Dent corn is the variety used in food manufacturing as the base ingredient for cornmeal flour (used in the baking of cornbread ), corn chips, tortillas, and taco shells. Starch derived from this high-starch content variety is turned ...
How tall does a dent corn grow?
More commonly grown to a height of 2–3 meters (6–9 feet), Zea mays typically grows with a single, hollow main stem often called a stalk (or culm) which exhibits internodes that are cylindrical in the upper part and alternately grooved in the lower part with a bud in the groove. One or occasionally two lateral branches emerge from the leaf axils in the upper part of the plant. The leaves of Zea mays alternate with broad, sword-shaped leaf blades, parallel veins with a prominent mid-rib, and small ligules. The plant has an adventitious, dense, fibrous root system that develops aerial roots at nodes near the soil surface.
What is the name of the type of corn that is used in soft drinks?
Starch derived from this high-starch content variety is turned into plastics, as well as fructose which is used as a sweetener ( high-fructose corn syrup) in many processed foods and soft drinks. The six major types of corn are dent corn, flint corn, pod corn, popcorn, flour corn, and sweet corn.
Who is the farmer of Reid's yellow dent corn?
Reid's Yellow Dent is a variety developed by central Illinois farmer James L. Reid. Reid and his father, Robert Reid, moved from Brown County, Ohio to Tazewell County, Illinois in 1846 bringing with them a red corn variety known as "Johnny Hopkins", and crossed it with varieties of flint corn and flour corn.
Is dent corn a hybrid?
Cultivars developed for commercial cultivation are either single- or double-cross hybrids bred for special growing areas, soils, or climatic conditions.
What is the name of the corn that is ground into flour?
Flint corn or Indian corn is often used ornamentally but can also be ground into flour, and is often used as hominy.
What is field corn used for?
But due to subsidies from the federal government which encourage more is better, industry has found a multitude of other uses for this water hungry, highly fertilized, shallow-rooted annual. The majority of field corn (40 percent) is used for ethanol , and 37 percent is used to rapidly fatten up grass-loving livestock. So, seventy six percent of the field corn grown in the United States is used for cars and grain-fed meat. 11 percent is used to make processed corn products, i.e. corn syrup, corn flour, and corn starch.
What percentage of corn is genetically modified?
Nearly ninety two percent of the field corn planted in the U.S. is genetically modified, in contrast to sweet corn, of which about 10 percent was genetically modified in 2011. Although Syngenta’s Bt ‘Attribute’ seed has been on the market for over 10 years, it is not widely used, as it is only sold to commercial growers who sign a stewardship agreement and also plant a minimum of 20 acres. But in 2012 another company came into the sweet corn market, Monsanto. Monsanto introduced its first GM sweet corn seed called ‘Performance’ with three GM traits; Roundup Ready herbicide tolerant and two insect resistant traits (corn-borer and rootworm). (5) It was rumoured Monsanto was ready to produce enough seed to cover 250,000 acres with its GM sweet corn in 2012 but the company has not divulged how much it has sold or how much was planted. (6) The 2013 figures are also not available. Wal-Mart has agreed to sell Monsanto’s corn, but Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s and General Mills have pledged not to sell or use it. Be sure to ask your local farmer what corn he has planted.
How much is corn subsidies?
U.S. corn subsidies totaled $113.9 billion dollars between 1995 and 2019. And last year due to drought, federally supported corn crop insurance could pay out a record $20 billion or more, even though 2012 provided a higher quality overall crop.
Is popcorn genetically modified?
According to Dee Dee Flynn, Executive Director of the Popcorn Board, popcorn is a specialty corn that is not genetically modified, non-organic is still grown with pesticides, etc., but not gmo seed. Americans each consume 52 quarts of popped popcorn per year.
Is yellow dent corn a GMO?
Yellow dent or field corn is also made into cornmeal, corn flakes, hominy, grits, corn starch, corn sugar, corn syrup, corn oil, corn-oil meal, gluten feed and meal, whiskey and alcohol. You can be fairly certain you are consuming GMO when consuming any of the above , unless you seek out organic options.
Is corn a similar crop to sweet corn?
Field corn and sweet corn might have similar roots but are very different crops.
What is the definition of corn height?
Corn height is generally defined as “free standing” or the height of the arch of the highest leaf that is at least 50% developed. Corn height is less accurate than leaf number in determining growth stage.
What are the stages of corn growth?
Growth stages of corn are divided into vegetative stages (V) and reproductive stages (R) as outlined in Table 1. Subdivisions of the V stages are designated numerically as V1, V2, V3, etc. through V (n), where (n) represents the last leaf stage before VT for the specific hybrid under consideration. The first and last V stages are designated as VE (emergence) and VT (tasseling). The number of leaves (n) will fluctuate with hybrid and environment differences. The vegetative stages and six subdivisions of the reproductive stages are designated numerically with their common names in Table 1.
