Zea mays Health Dictionary

Linn.

Family: Gramineae; Poaceae.

Habitat: Native to South America. Grown as a food crop mainly in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

English: Maize, Corn, Indian Corn.

Ayurvedic: Mahaa-Kaaya.

Unani: Makkaa, Zurraa Makkaa.

Action: Corn Silk—diuretic, urinary demulcent, antilithic. Used for cystitis, urethritis, prostatitis, irritation of the urinary tract by phosphatic and uric acids, nephritis, uncontrollable bladder, retention, pus in the urine, bed-wetting.

The corn silk gave saponins; alan- toin; sterols, especially beta-sitosterol and stigmasterol; alkaloid hordenine; polyphenols; mucilage; potassium; vitamin C and K; cryptoxanthin, antho- cyanins, plant acids, tannin.

The glycoproteins, seperated from corn silk, inhibited IgE antibody formation and enhanced IgG and IgM formation; they showed antiviral and antitumour activities.