General Information
What is Popcorn?
Popcorn is a cereal, that belongs to the gramineous family, of the maydeaes tribe. Its gender and species corresponds to Zea mays Subspecies: Everta St.
This variety corresponds to maize with hard vitreous endosperm that puffs up when heated, forming the popcorn.
Types of Popcorn:
There are two types of Popcorn, as per the shape that takes after popping:
- Butterfly: the shape is irregular with some protruding “wings” which gives the appearance of a butterfly, hence its name.
- Mushroom: It is ball-shaped and has virtually no “wings”.
Brief history of its origin and worldwide expansion
It has its origin in Mexico, where the Aztecs already used it for alimentary and ornamental purposes. This type of corn began to be planted and grown in the United States, being very popular from the 1890s until the Great Depression because it was fairly cheap and thus became for the Americans one of the few luxuries they could afford.
Almost all around the world people eat it “salted”. This was because during the Second World War, sugar was sent to US troops to make candy. Because of that, there was shortage in the US. Thanks to this unusual situation, the Americans ate three more times popcorn than usual and this was how they continued multiplying their consumption, with added salt already.
When television arrived, it went into a slump during the 1950s. The attendance to movie theaters decreased and therefore, same did the consumption. Later, people started to eat popcorn again and the new relationship between the television and the microwave popcorn, was what led to a revival of its popularity.
Worlwide habit of popcorn consuming is the result of globalization, cinema chains and the media, producing a “global mega trend”. The particularity of this product is that it is a low-cost snack, easy to transport and simple to elaborate, allowing production where the best agronomic conditions are presented and then allowing easy distribution throughout the planet.