The power of maize
Maize, also known as corn, is one of the most extensively cultivated cereal crops on earth. It is a domesticated food item that great mother earth has bestowed on mankind. Though what precipitated its domestication is not known, it has become the most dominant staple food in Africa.
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Ground maize meal constitutes the basis of the staple food in many regions of Ghana, virtually every dish in Ghanaian cuisine uses maize.
Maize, being popular as a food item, is enjoyed by people in various forms, whole corn, corn flour, corn starch, corn gluten, corn syrup, corn meal, corn oil, popcorn, cornflakes, among others.
Maize meal is made into a thick porridge in many cultures and enjoyed by both adults and children. The corn meal mush in the Ghanaian dish is used for kenkey (Fanti or Ga), banku, tuo zaafi, abolo, kooko, and tom brown.
The maize meal is sometimes used as a starch source for Ghanaian traditional beer, Aliha and ‘+nmeda.’
Nutritional Value
Speaking on the nutritional value of maize, Dr Agnes Budu of the Department of Nutrition and Food Science of the University of Ghana said cereal or whole grains were great sources of vitamins and minerals, magnesium, fibre and complex carbohydrates. The fibre in the whole grains helps to prevent the risk of heart diseases and diabetes, and all its nutrients boost the immune system.
She says maize is a good source of vitamins, minerals and dietary fibre, with traces of manganese and copper. According to her, one of the nutritional benefits of maize comes from its rich carbohydrate that is derived from its abundant starch. Maize is also very rich in vitamin B1 (which is necessary for the brain to absorb glucose and transform that food into energy) and Vitamin B5, which is essential for energy, as it is linked to carbohydrate, protein and digestion of fatty acid in the body,” she affirmed.
She says maize has also vitamin B7 which gives nutritional benefits to the body, since the deficiency of this vitamin in a person affects the state of the skin and hair. It contains Vitamin C which boosts immunity and fights infections, while the presence of vitamin E in maize has anti-aging properties.
Dr Budu states that the nutritional benefits of maize are also determined by its vitamin A content which functions as a micronutrient that protects tissues in the body to prevent diseases such as cancer.
The high-fibre content is another characteristic linked to the nutritional benefits of maize. This condition makes it suitable for diets that are made to help lose weight and those made with the aim of lowering cholesterol levels.
Health benefits of maize
Commenting further on the health benefits of corn, Dr Agnes Budu observed that the high-fibre content of the crop helps prevent constipation and colorectal cancer.
She explained that it had a substance which prevents lung cancer, while lutein (yellow colouring material) in it prevents age-related vision loss.
She indicated that recent clinical studies in Japan, published in Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, have shown that purple corn could be a great ally in the fight against diabetes and obesity.
It has a type of water soluble pigment that gives the purple colour to the corn and also yellow colour to yellow-corn.
She says the purple and yellow juice from maize are powerful micronutrients, adding that corn is also a good inhibitor of cholesterol and a protector of the retina, stimulating blood circulation and also preventing the development of some cancers.
She provides levels of some other health benefits as promoting tissue regeneration, preventing cardiovascular diseases, retarding degenerative processes in general, possessing anti-wrinkle actions, increasing blood circulation and encouraging diuretic actions (promoting the production of urine). The folate in it is an essential requirement, especially during pregnancy.
She says the minerals in maize include phosphorus which helps to maintain normal growth, kidney function and bone health, and magnesium boosts the latter, and regulates the heartbeat rate.
“The traditional maize, like other cereals, also provides protein and some fats and oil.
Maize is easily digested by the body. According to her, maize promotes a series of muscle contractions that occur in the digestive tract and is also beneficial in preventing constipation. It facilitates the removal of toxic food substances and also accelerates the passage of faeces through the intestine. Additionally, it protects the digestive tract, thus promoting the function of the gall bladder and reducing stomach acidity.
Maize is low in cholesterol and fat content.
Post harvest contamination of maize
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Speaking on bad and inappropriate cultural practices, post harvest, as well as storage practices of maize, Mr George A. A. Anyebuno, a Research Scientist of the Food Research Institute of the CSIR, said using poor drying techniques in storing maize could result in the spread of “aflatoxins,” chemical compounds produced by some particular fungi which have been found to be toxic to humans and animals.
He said the toxins had been reported to be potent causes of cancers and suppresses the immune system, causing humans and animals to be more susceptible to diseases.
According to him, the health and nutritional implications of aflatoxins and other mycotoxins (toxic substances produced by fungi) impact negatively on livelihoods, particularly of poor smallholder farmers and their families who have limited freedom for food choices.
He observed that aflatoxins have been a major problem in international trade, since agricultural products such as maize and groundnuts that have more than permissible level of contamination are rejected in both standardised and international markets.
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He said in the Techiman Municipality, SEND-GHANA, with support from Southern Africa Trust, is collaborating with the Food Research Institute (FRI) and the Ecumenical Association for Sustainable Agriculture (ECASARD) to educate smallholder farmers on preventing/reducing aflatoxins in their maize, while appealing to the government to fulfill its commitments to provide broader and better extension services and enhance storage facilities for smallholder maize farmers.
Market Women
In Ghana, ground dried maize is common in markets, especially where Anlo women bring produce to sell. Anlos in Ghana eat banku almost everyday. The ground dried maize goes with cassava dough, which almost has similar properties. Addition of cassava dough to the maize gives a good texture to the cooked maize product, banku.
Davi Ama Gamor, a 54-year-old widow who hails from Galosota in the Volta Region, is a selfless crusader of maize and has been instrumental in effecting major changes in improving the lives of many communities within Accra and beyond.
She bags ground dried maize in a very a hygienic manner and sells it to food vendors across the country.
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Davi Gamor said she had been selling the ground dried maize and the mushed corn flour (corn dough) for the past 30 years.
“I started the business by grounding 5 to 10 olonka (an aluminium container commonly used in measuring maize at the market) of dried maize and sold it from house to house around Fadama, Bubuashie, Official Town, Odorkor and Darkuman (all suburbs in Accra) and also directed people to my house, which is now known as the Moree House,” (Moree is a local name for corn dough).
Davi, who now has 20 employees working with her on a daily basis, said she processed about 1,600 bags of dried maize every month and sold them to food vendors. She also exports some to neighbouring countries like Togo and Benin.
She mentioned Techiman, Ejura and Nkronza as the source of her product, the dried maize.
She appealed to the government to support local farmers, especially maize farmers, with varieties of seeds, equipment and storage facilities so as to improve on their production.
Maize Festivals
“Ave” (a traditional area in the Volta Region) celebrates the maize festival. Tracing the history of the festival, Mr Bli Shine, a resident of Ave, said the popularity of the Ave people was facilitated by the maize crop, its religious and spiritual importance and how it impacted their diets.
Celebrating “Homowo” (hooting at hunger) by the Ga people in the Greater Accra Region without the sprinkling of “Kpoikpoi”, a traditional meal prepared with maize, makes the festival incomplete.
Homowo recounts the migration of the Gas and reveals their agricultural success in their new settlement. According to Ga oral tradition, a severe famine broke out among the people during their migration to present day Accra. They were inspired by the famine to embark on massive food production exercises which eventually yielded bumper harvest, hence the celebration of Homowo.
Conclusion
Maize is the most important cereal crop in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and an important staple food for more than 1.2 billion people in the SSA and Latin America. All parts of the crop can be used for food and non-food products such as door mats.
In industrialised countries, maize is largely used as fodder to feed livestock, raw material for industrial products. Maize accounts for 30−50 per cent of low-income household expenditures in western, eastern and southern Africa.
A heavy reliance on maize in the diet, however, can lead to malnutrition and vitamin deficiency diseases such as night blindness and kwashiorkor.