Corn is known scientifically as Zea mays. This moniker reflects its traditional name, maize, by which it is known throughout many areas of the world. Being a staple food in primitive civilizations, the earliest traces of meals made from corn dates back about 7,000 years.

Although we often associate corn with the colour yellow, this vegetable actually comes in different varieties and colours like red, pink, black and blue. Corn grows in "ears," each of which is covered in rows of kernels that are protected by the silk-like threads called "corn silk," and finally, encased in a husk.

Not just a popular food, corn is also the base of many products, including antibiotics, baby foods, bourbon, chewing gum, condensed milk, corn flour, corn meal, corn oil, cornstarch, corn syrup, corn whiskey, ethanol, laundry starch and peanut butter.