Sweetcorn is a variety of maize grown for human consumption. Its original growers were Native American tribes. Sweetcorn grew in popularity around the late 1700s, when it was accessible to Europeans. It is now widely grown all around the world except for areas that have very short summers. Its sugary kernels can be enjoyed steamed, boiled, raw or cooked straight from the cob or removed and served as a side dish or in a salad.
Sweetcorn is usually yellow but can come in a wide variety of colours, like green, red and white. While typically it is described as a vegetable it is in fact a grain and a fruit.
Did you know… there is an even number of rows in every cob of corn!
Sweetcorn is full of nutrients, high in fibre, folate, thiamin, magnesium, phosphorus, vitamin C. In fact cooking sweetcorn increases levels of ferulic acid, which has anti-cancer properties.