Corn gluten meal is also highly valued by pet food manufacturers because it is readily digestible. Corn steep liquor is the condensed liquid in which corn is soaked during the wet-milling process. Corn steep liquor is used in liquid feeds and in the fermentation media in the production of pharmaceutical products. Corn gluten is a common ingredient in pet food. In 1985, while studying its value as a fertilizer, researchers at Iowa State University discovered that corn gluten contains a natural organic compound which inhibits root development in seedlings.
Germination occurs, but the seedling dies from lack of a root system.
The result is an environmentally safe, nontoxic, completely natural method for controlling germination of weeds in lawns.