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Blue corn (also known asHopi maize,Yoeme Blue,Tarahumara Maiz Azul, andRio Grande Blue) is a group of several closely related varieties offlint corn grown inMexico, theSouthwestern United States, and theSoutheastern United States.[1][2][3] It is one of the main types of corn used for the traditional Southern and Central Mexican food known astlacoyo.
It was originally developed by theHopi, thePueblo Indians of the Rio Grande in Arizona, and several Southeastern tribes, including theCherokee.[2] It remains an essential part of Hopi dishes likepiki bread. Blue corn meal is acorn meal that is ground from whole blue corn and has a sweet flavor. It is also a staple ofNew Mexican cuisine used commonly to maketortillas.[4]
Blue corn containsanthocyanins, which give the corn its blue color.
Five Hopi blue corn cultivars identified in the 1950s showed significant differences for several traits, such as plant height, kernel weight, width of kernel, and thickness of kernel.[2] The different varieties have a color range from nearly black to blue-grey, with names derived from the "standard" blue (sakwaqa'o), hard blue (huruskwapu), and grey-blue (maasiqa'o).[5]
The traditional Hopi blue corn varieties are extremely drought-tolerant, deep-rooted, and somewhat short plants, seldom exceeding 1.2–1.5 m (4–5 ft) in height. The Rio Grande pueblo blue corn varieties are taller, reaching 1.5–2.1 m (5–7 ft), higher yielding, and not as drought-tolerant as the Hopi varieties. Both varieties of blue corn prefer deep, sandy soils.[6]
Other native varieties of blue corn includeYoeme Blue, a small kernel, short (0.9–1.2 m or 3–4 ft), bushy, and heat-tolerant low desert blue corn variety cultivated on theSalt River Pima Reservation in Arizona, and theTarahumara northern Mexican varietyTarahumara Maiz Azul, cultivated in the high deserts bordering the Sierra Madre in Northern Mexico.Tarahumara Maiz Azul is widely used to make tortillas and tamales in Mexico, as well astesgüino, a Tarahumarancorn beer.[6][7][8][9][10]
ACherokee heirloom variety of blue corn which originated from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is calledCherokee White Eagle Corn and is distributed to Cherokee tribal members from the Cherokee Nation Seed Bank. It is a tall variety, reaching 1.5–2.1 m (5–7 ft), and is high yielding.[11]
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In 100 grams of blue corn tortilla (Sakwavikaviki), theprotein content is 7.8%,[12] compared to 5.7% in yellow corn tortillas.[13]
Varieties of blue corn cultivated in theSouthwestern United States vary in their respective contents of anthocyanins, thepolyphenol pigment giving the corn its unique color.[14] Anthocyanins having the highest contents arecyanidin 3-glucoside (most abundant),pelargonidin andpeonidin 3-glucoside.[14]
Aside from its use in traditional Southwestern dishes of tortillas and cereal, blue corn is used commercially in products such as blue corn chips and blue corn pancake mix.[2][15]
The Hopi use corn in religious rituals, placing it in a framework of directional associations in which yellow corn is associated with the Northwest, blue corn with the Southwest, red corn with the Southeast, white corn with the Northeast, black corn with the Above, and all-colored corn with the Below.[16][17]
The Hopi cultural construction of space is a quadripartite one to which are added 'up' and 'down'.… From this middle place paths of cornmeal radiate outward to the six directions and various objects (including ears of corn,…) are added according to their position in the system of correspondences.