• Question: why is sweetcorn yellow

    Asked by anon-186547 to Verity, Trystan, Danny on 13 Nov 2018.
    • Photo: Danny Ward

      Danny Ward answered on 13 Nov 2018:

      The main type of sweetcorn we see in shops is yellow. This is because it contains a yellow compound called beta carotene. This beta carotene turns into vitamin A during digestion and so is good for us.
      .
      There other types of corn around the world though. Some farmers in places like mexico use different varieties and can naturally grow red corn, white corn, green corn, black corn or even multicoloured corn. This is all down to the different coloured naturally occurring compounds present within the corn 🌽.

    • Photo: Verity Hill

      Verity Hill answered on 13 Nov 2018:

      Danny has answered! But one thing that is fun is that corn plants are really only around because of humans. Maize, the crop that corn comes from, used to have a wild ancestor called teosinte, that was a lot smaller and greener. Thousands of years of humans picking the juiciest and nicest to eat plants have led to the sweetcorn we know and love today!

      (this is what teosinte looks like!)

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