Popping corn
| Popcorn | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Unpopped corn | |
 |
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| Popped corn | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Monocots |
| (unranked): | Commelinids |
| Order: | Poales |
| Family: | Poaceae |
| Genus: | Zea |
| Species: | Z. mays |
| Subspecies: | Z. m. everta |
| Trinomial name | |
|
Zea mays everta |
|
| Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz) | |
|---|---|
| Energy | 1,598 kJ (382 kcal) |
|
78 g
|
|
| Dietary fiber | 15 g |
|
4 g
|
|
|
12 g
|
|
| Vitamins | |
| Thiamine (B1) |
(17%)
0.2 mg |
| Riboflavin (B2) |
(25%)
0.3 mg |
| Minerals | |
| Iron |
(21%)
2.7 mg |
|
One cup is 8 grams.
|
|
|
|
| Percentages are roughly approximated using US recommendations for adults. Source: USDA Nutrient Database |
|
Popcorn is a variety of corn kernel, which expands and puffs up when heated.
A popcorn kernel's strong hull contains the seed's hard, starchy endosperm with 14-15% moisture, the latter of which turns to steam as the kernel is heated. The pressure continues building until it exceeds the hull's ability to contain it. The kernel ruptures and explodes, allowing the contents to expand, cool, and finally set in a popcorn puff 20 to 50 times the size of the original kernel.
Some strains of corn (taxonomized as Zea mays) are cultivated specifically as popping corns. The Zea mays variety everta, a special kind of flint corn, is the most common of these.
Corn was first domesticated 9,000 years ago in what is now Mexico. Archaeologists have discovered that people have known about popcorn for thousands of years. In Mexico, for example, remnants of popcorn have been found that date to around 3600 BC.
A Mexican folk myth popular in the city of Teotihuacán talks about a wealthy farmer called Gonzalo Quádre. He owned over 100,000 acres of corn that was the main source of food to the citizens of Teotihuacán. Quádre had surplus corn that he decided to dry up some to feed the chickens on his farm. On a summer day, while he was feeding the chickens, he heard a popping sound. As frightened as he was about the sudden noise, he looked down to see a white piece of fluff. After examining it, he found out that it was a kernel. He tasted it and decided to keep the secret for decades as the people believed he had supernatural power to turn stone into food. So he was worshiped until his death. As he was dying, he asked his counselor to spread the secret in the city's temple. He was later buried in the pyramids.
Popping of the kernels was achieved manually through the 19th century, being sold on the east coast of the USA under names such as 'Pearls' or 'Nonpareil'. The term 'popped corn' first appeared in John Russell Bartlett’s 1848 Dictionary of Americanisms. Popcorn is an ingredient in Cracker Jack, and in the early years of the product, it was popped by hand.
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Wikipedia