Endosperm types

Corn is classified by the way in which the kernels store carbohydrates (sugars and starches in the endosperm). Classically there are five classes, pop, flint, dent, flour and sweet (sugary). These are consumed in different ways in different parts of North and South America. Popcorn is popped. Flints and dents are ground into flour or made into drinks. Flour corns are ground, eaten in the dough stage as a vegetable, made into drinks, and roasted whole kernels such as CornNuts. Sweetcorn (sugary1) has been used in soups, drinks and as most of us know it cooked as a vegetable in the green stage.

Mesa Maize markets mostly sugary (su1), sugary enhanced (se) sweet corn. Sugary corn has a long archeological history of use in the Americas, dating back at least 1500 years. At the time of Columbus, sugary (su1) corn was found from southern Canada south, including much of South America. Sugary one became the basis for vegetable Sweetcorn in North America. It is still widely used for canning and freezing.  It is notable for a creamy texture and a rich, corny taste. We are now also marketing several Synergistic hybrids.

The history of sugary enhanced corn is less clear, but was first identified in a cross between an old U.S. heirloom variety "Narrow grained Evergreen" and corn grown by the Indians near Coroico, Bolivia. I believe, however, it is  solely from the "Narrow grained Evergreen". I then combined it with other high quality traits, mostly from other heirloom varieties. The result is a sweet corn taste and tender kernels. When properly cooled and refrigerated, the ears will hold for two weeks after harvest.

Sh2 corn, which we do not sell, is much more radically modified. It is based on a mutation that radically reduces the carbohydrate complexity in the endosperm of the kernel. It is true that because the sugars do not convert much to starch, it holds it sweetness a long time, making it popular for long distance shipping. It is not one of the historic corn types, and was not known until geneticists started working on and manipulating the corn plant.

Our new Tablesweet(TM) or TSW(TM) series combine the hold of sh2 with the flavor of se. This has been accomplished using conventional methods  of plant breeding.

Guide to sweet corn types:

Homozygous Sugary Enhanced

Mesa Maize high quality hybrids with characteristic flavor, sweetness and tenderness. Both inbreds in the hybrid cross are sugary enhanced. Examples: Native Gem and Precious Gem. Seed is sugary enhanced.

Tablesweet® Homozygous Sugary Enhanced

New breeding breakthrough combines the best flavor of the SE hybrids you enjoy with elevated sugar levels resulting in hybrids that are sweeter initially and hold their sugar longer. The sugary enhanced gene modifies sugary and as many as 27 modifying genes are believed to be involved. Tablesweet® will signify Mesa Maize hybrids that are developed from the sweetest sugary enhanced inbreds available. Tablesweet® quality is available now in Parfait TSW® Chippawa , and Welcome TSW® Seed is sugary enhanced.

Heterozygous Sugary Enhanced

Normal sugary type with 75% of the kernels sugary and 25% sugary enhanced on the hybrid ear. Examples: Temptation and Argent. Seed is normal sugary.

Sugary

Normal sugary, first sweet corn available and is the standard sweet corn used for processing today. Examples: Jubilee and Silver Queen. Seed is sugary.

Supersweet

Shrunken2, used for long distance shipping and rough handling, Florida corn found at your grocers during winter months, also used in processing.

Examples: Early Xtra Sweet and Honey & Pearl. Seed is shrunken2.

Other types:

Include miscellaneous sweet gene types and synergistic hybrids that are some variation of a sweeter gene segregating with a sugary on the hybrid ear. Examples: Honeycomb and Sweet Chorus and our Nantasket. Misquamicut, Nauset, Montauk, and Odunquit.  Defferent kernels on the same ear have different characteristics.  As one eats many kernels at the same time this can result in a more complex hybrid.

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