NATURA PURPLE CORN

COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF THE PRODUCT.-

Common Name: Maiz Morado

Scientific Name: Zea Mays L. – Kculli variety.

Family: Poaceae – Grass family

English Name: Purple Corn

 

 

I.   DESCRIPTION OF THE PLANT.-

 

This plant has a strong , tall stalk that can reach between 60 cm to 3 or 4 meters (2 ft to 10 or 13 ft) according to its variety. In the top there is a panache of flowers. The cobs grow in the axila of the large and elongated leaves. The cobs will later have full rows of corn. Purple Corn, (Zea Mays L.) is a variety which cob and grains possess a purple color. There is a natural ingredient that gives it its coloration, a member of the anthocyanins, ciandina-3-b-glucose, a very important anti-oxidant.

 

• HABITAT: This unique variety is grown in Peru in the inter-Andean valleys and the central coast and grows between 1,200 and over 4,000 meters above sea level (4,000 ft to 14,000 ft).The principal production areas are in Lima, Ancash and Arequipa.

  

Purple Corn  

 

II.    HISTORIC OR TRADITIONAL USE.-

 

Original from Peru, this variety had been domesticated in pre-Columbian times, and along with other corn varieties, was a cereal of high importance in the basic food diet of the times.

 

 

III. CHEMICAL COMPOSITION .-

 

Purple corn has phyto-nutrients among which are: flavonoids, carotenoids, luteins, terpenes, anthocyanins,  sulphurorafanes and many more. Phyto-nutrients lack food value, however function as anti-oxidants, protecting the cellular DNA from the damaging oxidant effects of free radicals, thus preventing mutations that could lead to cancer.

 

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