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26 Corn - Production and Human Health in Changing Climate

10.1007/s00253-016-7590-9

tainties about gene drive insects. 2018. In review

**Chapter 3**

**Provisional chapter**

**The Maize Contribution in the Human Health**

**The Maize Contribution in the Human Health**

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.78700

Maize (*Zea mays*) is a cereal very important around the world and is a fundamental element of the Mexican cuisine. The basis of Mexican traditional food is maize prepared by the process of "nixtamalización" which conserves the properties of the whole grain cereal. The phytochemical profiles of *Z. mays* contain total phenolics, ferulic acid, carotenoids, and flavonoids called anthocyanins. It is generally accepted that anthocyanin food colors do not exert obvious toxicity, teratogenicity, or mutagenicity and, indeed, anthocyanins may inhibit mutagenesis. Nutraceutical properties of phenolic and anthocyanin compounds in the maize that offer antioxidant activities is shown in five types of corn (white, yellow, high carotenoid, blue, and red). Therefore, the consumption of maize or its derivates such as tortillas, tortilla chips, etc., become functional food, with the ability to be used to prevent the incidence of diseases such as cancer, diabetes, obesity, and neurodegenerative disorders. Likewise, a diet that includes corn can be used during the management of these diseases. However, it is necessary to carry out more studies that

highlight the efficiency of corn byproduct consumption during these diseases. **Keywords:** maize, nutraceutics, antioxidants, chronic diseases, functional foods

Corn is by far the cereal most commonly consumed by the people and cultures of the American continent: ancient civilizations, such as the Olmec and the Teotihuacan in Mesoamerica and the Quechuas in the Andean region of South America, developed around this plant [1].

> © 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

© 2018 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use,

distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Cuéllar-José Ricardo and Aguirre López Luis Octavio

Cuéllar-José Ricardo and Aguirre López Luis Octavio

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

Bañuelos-Pineda Jacinto,

**Abstract**

**1. Introduction**

Bañuelos-Pineda Jacinto,

Gómez-Rodiles Carmen Cecilia,

Gómez-Rodiles Carmen Cecilia,

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.78700

#### **The Maize Contribution in the Human Health The Maize Contribution in the Human Health**

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.78700

Bañuelos-Pineda Jacinto, Gómez-Rodiles Carmen Cecilia, Cuéllar-José Ricardo and Aguirre López Luis Octavio Bañuelos-Pineda Jacinto, Gómez-Rodiles Carmen Cecilia, Cuéllar-José Ricardo and Aguirre López Luis Octavio

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.78700

#### **Abstract**

Maize (*Zea mays*) is a cereal very important around the world and is a fundamental element of the Mexican cuisine. The basis of Mexican traditional food is maize prepared by the process of "nixtamalización" which conserves the properties of the whole grain cereal. The phytochemical profiles of *Z. mays* contain total phenolics, ferulic acid, carotenoids, and flavonoids called anthocyanins. It is generally accepted that anthocyanin food colors do not exert obvious toxicity, teratogenicity, or mutagenicity and, indeed, anthocyanins may inhibit mutagenesis. Nutraceutical properties of phenolic and anthocyanin compounds in the maize that offer antioxidant activities is shown in five types of corn (white, yellow, high carotenoid, blue, and red). Therefore, the consumption of maize or its derivates such as tortillas, tortilla chips, etc., become functional food, with the ability to be used to prevent the incidence of diseases such as cancer, diabetes, obesity, and neurodegenerative disorders. Likewise, a diet that includes corn can be used during the management of these diseases. However, it is necessary to carry out more studies that highlight the efficiency of corn byproduct consumption during these diseases.

**Keywords:** maize, nutraceutics, antioxidants, chronic diseases, functional foods
