The sweet maize is marketed either in cobs or in loose kernels, fresh and tinned or frozen.

Sweet maize grains are usually of a bright yellow colour when ripe, juicy, with great nutritious value and intended for processing different products, like the well-known "popcorn", etc. Sweet maize is widely used as an ingredient in salads, sauces and cold dishes.

The sweet maize is very nutritious; it mainly supplies with carbohydrates, proteins and fibre, apart from vitamins and minerals.

It is beneficial for health, and used to treat heart and nerves diseases, etc.

The sweet maize is marketed either in cobs or in loose kernels, fresh and tinned or frozen.

Sweet maize grains are usually of a bright yellow colour when ripe, juicy, with great nutritious value and intended for processing different products, like the well-known "popcorn", etc. Sweet maize is widely used as an ingredient in salads, sauces and cold dishes.

The maize grains are pressed and adhered to a central axis, forming rows of 8 to 30 kernels or juicy seeds when unripe; later on they harden. They are of yellow, white or reddish colour according to the variety and they are known as " ears’ or " cob’.

The sweet maize is intended for human consumption and use in many different ways. It is found fresh in the market, frozen and in preserve, both in cobs or in loose grains used to prepare salads, sauces and as garnish for several dishes. With maize we make ‘popcorn’ (toasted maize), semolina, tortillas, bread, corn flakes, etc; in Asturias, Santander and Galicia (Spain) maize is used to prepare "borona’, in America they make "atole’ (a kind of porridge made with maize flour), in Italy they make "polenta’ (stew), in Argentina "locro’ and in the Canary Islands "gofio’, made with grounded maize or flour. Maize is also a source of oil, it is used as fermentation substrate for alcohol production, etc. The mature and dry grains are employed for feeding animals and some selected varieties are used for fodder.

The maize nutritious value is important since it supplies with glucids, proteins, fibre and some necessary vitamins and minerals, among which stand out the folic acid.

Cobs must be harvested when the grains are completely developed, bright; in this stage, when they are pressed, they let go a creamy liquid. It is advisable to put them under pre-cooling as soon as possible, so as to prolong their conservation. In this way the conversion of sugar to starch is delayed, and we avoid the loss of its sweet, highly appreciated taste.

The sweet maize belongs to the family of Gramineae and the species Zea mays, rough variety.

It is an herbaceous plant, annual, of long stem, 1.20 to 1.80m. The leaves are also long, alternate, with parallel nerves, like all the plants belonging to the Gramineae and the clasping plants. The roots are fasciculated.

The tassel-shaped inflorescences in the apex of the adult plant are the masculine flowers and " silky’ tips of the unripe cob are the feminine flowers’ pistils.

The multiple fruit is the " cob’ or " ear’ composed of grains or seeds arranged throughout a central axis, usually of yellow colour, although it may be of white or reddish colour according to the variety. The fruit is protected by large leaves that surround it from the peduncle to the tip.

The sowing period depends on the climate. In mild and warm areas, the sowing is carried out outdoors, in the middle and end of spring. The cobs are harvested in the middle or end of summer. In cold areas the sowing takes place in the beginning or middle of spring, in greenhouses or under outdoors bells. The harvest depends on the variety, since there are varieties of early maturation, middle season and late varieties.