Physico - Chemical Analysis of Five Varieties of Baby Corn

Baby com (Zea mays L.), an upcoming vegetable refers to young tender flowering maize ears harvested within 2 to 4 days after white silk emergence before fertilization. It is popular in India as a non-traditional thrust vegetable for export and value addition. The dehusked young ear can be eaten raw as salad or used as ingredients in various preparations like soup, vegetable and pickles. The basic requirements of baby corn for market is said to be 4.5 to 10 cm length and 7 to 17 mm diameter. Domestic markets for baby corn continue to grow and number of farmers producing the crop are increasing. Growing baby corn for high nutritional value and consumer acceptability are the major objectives to consider in addition to high productivity. Because of growing importance of this crop to Indian agriculture, there is need to carry out investigation on its nutritional value and consumer acceptability. Lack of information on physico-chemical properties of different varieties of babycorn has necessitated the present systematic evaluation of this important new crop.