Blue corn (also known as Hopi maize) is a variety of flint maize grown in Mexico and the Southwestern United States. It is one of the main types of corn used for the traditional Southern and Central Mexican food known as tlacoyo.
It was originally developed by the Hopi, and remains an essential part of Hopi dishes like piki bread. Blue corn meal is a corn meal that is ground from whole blue corn and has a sweet flavor. It is also a staple of New Mexican cuisine used commonly to make tortillas.
Video Blue corn
Varieties
Five Hopi blue corn cultivars identified in the 1950s showed significant differences for several traits, such as plant height, kernel weight, width of kernel, and thickness of kernel. The different varieties have a color range from nearly black to blue-grey, with names derived from the "standard" blue ("sakwaqa'o"), hard blue ("huruskwapu"), and grey-blue ("maasiqa'o").
Maps Blue corn
Tortilla protein content
In 100 grams of blue corn tortilla (Sakwavikaviki), the protein content is 7.8%, compared to 5.7% in yellow corn tortillas.
Anthocyanins
Varieties of blue corn cultivated in the Southwestern United States vary in their respective contents of anthocyanins, the polyphenol pigment giving the corn its unique color. Anthocyanins having the highest contents are cyanidin 3-glucoside (most abundant), pelargonidin and peonidin 3-glucoside.
Food uses
Aside from its use in traditional Southwestern dishes of tortillas and cereal, Hopi maize is used commercially in products such as blue corn chips and blue corn pancake mix.
Symbolic uses
The Hopi used corn in religious rituals, placing blue corn in a framework of directional associations in which yellow corn was associated with the Northwest; blue corn with the Southwest; red corn with the Southeast; white corn with the Northeast; black corn with the Above, and all-colored corn with the Below.
See also
- List of maize dishes
References
Source of article : Wikipedia
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