The fruit are yellow, purple or red, smooth and rounded grains. For food, corn is used in many different ways. The sprouts give an oil. The ears are used to feed human beings and animals. There are many recipes based on corn, such as polenta, Rumanian mamaliga, tortillas.
Corn flour is used in cake making.
The word maize originates from America. Corn had many ritual and magic uses, notably on the American continent. Mayas and Aztecs thus believed that Man had been shaped with corn flour. East and North of the continent, the mother of corn was venerated for a long time, as a symbol for fullness and fertility. Many Inca tombs or burial places in Peru contain ears or grains of corn and Mexicans used to venerate a goddess whose name was deriving from the name of the plant.