| Apparently, it's fairly popular in Asia -- Korea, China, Thailand, Viet Nam, for roasting or boiling. The kernels are peeled like a sunflower seed before being eaten. It seems to be eaten mainly as a snack food. Very intriguing.
This is a specific subspecies of corn, known as Zea mays ceratina. It goes by the name of Glutinous corn in Asia, or Waxy Corn in N. America.
I've done a lot of googling about it, with no sources at all in N. America or even sources overseas which look like they would sell retail/mail order. I've found a number of links to large commercial seed companies in China, Korea, and Taiwan that sell it, but only through their distribution networks to commercial growers.
Apparently, here in N. America, it's pretty much grown only in limited quantities as a source for starches for industrial processing, mostly in the chemical industry. There was one N. American distributor I found, in Ontario, but their stuff was all GMO corn with the Roundup-resistant and/or Bt genes, and I know they don't sell that technology to non-professionals, as it's proprietary and tightly monitored.
I'd love to get my hands on a few seeds of this, just to experiment with it. It looks like it would be really interesting to grow.
Can anyone suggest any sources at all? Got any to trade?
Dennis
SE Michigan |
