Standing by the roadside and relishing a ‘bhutta’ smeared with lemon, salt and spices is a typical monsoon experience. Rainy season is the time when fresh corn is available all across the city but the love for these yellow kernels goes way beyond just a season.
Be it as a taste enhancer in salads, curries, pulao and fried rice, crushed and powdered to be mixed with flour for rotis or simply in its boiled or fried form, corn, considered a grain, vegetable and also a fruit, has emerged as a favourite ingredient in kitchens. Such is the demand that all leading retail gourmet stores and supermalls in the city stock frozen corn, either in packets or cans, throughout the year.
Interestingly besides appeasing taste buds, corn has several health benefits. According to Praksmita Rout, Nutritionist and Slimming Head, VLCC, corn is a very good source of fibre.
‘’A cup of corn has 18.4 percent of fibre, which is almost half of our per day requirement of fibre,’’ informs Rout, adding corn greatly helps in reducing blood cholesterol and sugar levels. Corn contains Vitamin B1 that helps in carbohydrate metabolism. ‘’So, consuming corn makes one more energetic and also adds to good memory and cognitive development,’’ she explains.
Stating that corn contains folate that helps in generation of new cells, Rout explains that corn consumption can be extremely beneficial during pregnancy. Corn is also a rich source of Vitamin B5 and Vitamin C. While the former is important for physiological function, the latter helps in preventing diseases. ‘’In fact, in case of patients suffering with celiac, a disease that affects the small intestine, a gluten free diet is recommended and corn is one of the best gluten-free foods,’’ Rout informs.
Elaborating some other benefits of corn, Sasmita Sahoo, Senior Dietician, Apollo Hospital says the high amount of fibre in corn reduces the risk of colon cancer and also provides relief to people suffering from common digestive ailments. Corn has also been found to be helpful in treating kidney problems, including renal dysfunction, she informs. This apart, regular consumption of corn, in moderate quantities, has been associated with better cardiovascular health and is also good for the health of lungs, she adds.
So, if you already had been enjoying the taste of corn, double up the pleasure with the goodness of corn.
indian use
Indian preparations use the entire grain as in makkai ki roti made from corn meal, bhuna bhutta (corn on the cob), popcorn and most sweet corn preparations. Baked preparations and soups also employ the whole grain. The difference lies in the lack of dietary fibre in the refined form. Fibre is of two types-soluble and insoluble. The soluble type lowers blood cholesterol and blood glucose. The insoluble fibre is beneficial for bowel function. Deficiency of dietary fibre has been linked to constipation, cancer, high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity and hypertension. Corn meal provides a total of 15 per cent fibre of which nine per cent is soluble.
corn facts
Corn oil, which is extracted from corn germ, has high polyunsaturated fatty acid content and oxidative stability. Its largest single use is in bottled oil for consumer use, followed by margarine and industrial snack-frying operations.
By removing free fatty acids and phospholipids from crude corn oil, the oil refining process gives corn oil one of the qualities consumers value most: its excellent frying quality and resistance to smoking or discoloration. It also has a pleasant taste, resists developing off-flavours.
In addition, refiners produce starches, sweeteners and ethanol -- all made from the starch portion of the corn.
Corn is grown around the world and is one of the globe’s most widely used food staples
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