Sweet Corn

Abstract

Although corn includes dent, flint, flour, and popcorn, sweet corn (Zea mays var. rugosa) is the first thing that comes to mind for many Americans. Sweet corn differs from field corn in that more sugar and less starch accumulates in the kernels. The five main types of sweet corn are standard sugary (su), sugary enhanced (se), shrunken-2 (sh2), synergistic (syn), and augmented supersweets (shA). These types vary in sugar content, texture, length of harvest period, storage life, and seed vigor/germination requirements.