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Plants That Changed The World

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Author Topic: Plants That Changed The World  (Read 2234 times)
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Bianca
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« on: October 01, 2008, 11:05:33 am »










CORN - MAIZE
 


Corn (Zea mays) was domesticated from a wild plant called teosinte (Zea mexicana) at least seven thousand years ago. Considered a sacred crop, corn figured prominently in Mayan creation myths; one famous image depicts an earth god sprouting from a stalk.

Adaptable to a wide range of habitats, corn converts the sun's energy more efficiently than other cereals.

Corn made its way to Europe as a curiosity with the first departing explorers' vessels.

It also entered Europe with the Moors, via Turkey and North Africa. Corn quickly took root in much of Africa. Together with the peanut and cassava, it completely transformed the diet of much of Africa which had been based on grains such as sorghum and millet. Corn brought about a rapid rise in population throughout much of the continent. Africans eat a large percentage of the more than three hundred million metric tons of corn produced worldwide each year.

Today corn is a dietary staple for more than two hundred million people worldwide.
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