| Dent corn | |
|---|---|
 Dent corn is named for its dented kernels. | |
| Species | Zea mays |
| Variety | Zea mays var. indentata |
Dent corn, also known as grain corn, is a type of field corn with a high soft starch content. It received its name because of the small indentation, or "dent", at the crown of each kernel on a ripe ear of corn. Reid's Yellow Dent is a variety developed by central Illinois farmer James L. Reid. Reid and his father, Robert Reid, moved from Brown County, Ohio, to Tazewell County, Illinois, in 1846 bringing with them a red corn variety known as "Johnny Hopkins", and crossed it with varieties of flint corn and flour corn.[1] Most of today's hybrid corn varieties and cultivars are derived from it. This variety won a prize at the 1893 World's Fair.
Most of the corn grown in the United States today is yellow dent corn or a closely related variety derived from it.[2] Dent corn is the variety used in food manufacturing as the base ingredient for cornmeal flour (used in the baking of cornbread), corn chips, tortillas, and taco shells. Starch derived from this high-starch content variety is turned into plastics, as well as fructose which is used as a sweetener (high-fructose corn syrup) in many processed foods and soft drinks.
It is also the #1 ingredient (51+%) in Kentucky bourbon whiskey mash bills and is used to make ethanol for industrial use and motor fuel.
The six major types of corn are dent corn, flint corn, pod corn, popcorn, flour corn, and sweet corn.[3]
- ^ Kansas Agricultural Extension Service. Bulletin 227: Varieties of Corn in Kansas (1921).
- ^ University of Missouri, College of Agriculture Food and Natural Resources. Division of Plant Sciences Corn Extension Archived 2013-05-21 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
- ^ Linda Campbell Franklin, "Corn," in Andrew F. Smith (ed.), The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013 (pp. 551–558), p. 553.