Corn as Intended

The world is full of different varieties of corn, but only one made its way into movie theaters, popcorn.

Popcorn is one of six varieties of corn, and it has existed in the Americas for thousands of years. In 1948, an anthropological exploration of a cave system in New Mexico unearthed several corn cobs and kernels. Radiocarbon dating suggested the corn was 4,000 to 5,000 years old! A second expedition in 1950 retrieved 299 kernels, 6 of which were partially or completely popped. Here’s the wild part, when some of the unpopped kernels were rehydrated and placed in hot oil, they popped too.

Viewed as a sacred plant, popcorn was featured on ancient sculpture. Bags and bowls of corn kernels have been unearthed from several ancient American burial sites, where they rested undisturbed and unpopped beside mummified bodies. Can you imagine waiting for the afterlife with a bowl of popcorn?  Accounts from Spanish explorers and Jesuit missionaries also describe native Amerindian dishes consisting of maize kernels that were boiled or roasted till popped.

Certainly native Americans enjoyed popcorn, but popcorn may have been more than a treat. It may have been the original way to eat corn. Botanists today known that modern corn varieties are descendent from a grass named teosinte. The grass produces a single ear with 5-12 grains each encased in a rock-hard shell.

For years, scientists debated why native peoples would have chosen to domesticate this plant, due to its inedible nature and limited calories. One of the best theories is that the native hunters and gatherers ate teosinte leaves. A culinary accident placed teosinte leaves too close to a fire and an ear of kernels popped. Scientists have shown that teosinte kernels can pop over a fire, and they are edible. This fortuitous popping may have been reason enough to domesticate the plant. Through the process of domestication, a genetic mutation occurred that caused the kernels to lose their tough outer shell, putting the plant on a course to become modern corn.

So when you eat popcorn, you may be eating corn as it was intended to be eaten . . . although the scientific community is still waiting for archeological evidence of added melted butter and salt.

Brian Rutter, PhD, is the cofounder of Hundredfold Video and plant biologist working for 2Blades at the University of Minnesota. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive our “Sower Stories – Odd Facts About Plants” and video production tips in your inbox every month!

Works Cited:

Smith, Andrew F. Popped culture: A social history of popcorn in America. Univ of South Carolina Press, 2021.