How was maize created?

Maize, also known as corn, was not 'created', it evolved through centuries of selective breeding by indigenous peoples from its ancestor teosinte, a wild grass native to southern Mexico and Central America.

The process of cultivating and refining maize from teosinte involved selecting plants with desirable traits, such as large kernels, sweet flavour, improved resistance to pests and diseases, and higher yields. Indigenous farmers used traditional breeding methods including cross-pollination and the isolation of desired traits over generations to continuously improve their maize crops.

This gradual modification, guided by human choices and preferences, eventually resulted in the domestication of maize, transforming it into the modern form that we are familiar with today. The development of different varieties of maize also played a significant role in the cultural and gastronomic diversity of different regions globally.