From the botany point of view the flowers of corn are monoecious: each corn plant forms male and female flowers. The male flowers form the tassel at the top and produce yellow pollen. The female flowers (maize) are situated in leave axils and form stigmas or corn silk (fine, soft, yellowish threads or tassels). The purpose of the corn-silk (Zea mays) is to catch the pollen, is normally light green but it can have other colours such as yellow or light brown. Corn Silk is a collection of the stigmas that are 10-20 centimeters (4 to about 8 inches) long with a faintly sweetish taste.
Zea mays, the botanical name for corn comes from Greek, meaning to live. Mays comes from Spanish, the same word as a term in a native Mexican language meaning mother or mother of life, reflecting the central importance of corn in the lives of early Americans.
The stigmas (cornsilk) are collected for medicinal use before the plant is pollinated, but they can also be removed from corn cobs for use as a remedy. Cornsilk can be used fresh or dried. When fertilized, the stigmas dry and become brown, then yellow corn kernels develop. They are a well known food.
Constituents of the corn silk: fats, volatile oil, gums, resin, glycosides, saponins, alkaloids, vitamins c and k, sterols, plant acids, tannin, allantoin, potassium and calcium.
The major nutrient in cornsilk is potassium, but it is also rich in vitamin K, making it useful in controlling bleeding during childbirth. It is this potassium that is responsible for all of the benefits that come from this part of the corn plant. It is believed to act as a powerful diuretic, that make it a remedy for all conditions of the urinary passage. Some time ago corn-silk has been used to treat gonorrhea and for more than a century it has been a remedy for urinary conditions such as acute and inflamed bladders and painful urination.
Because the corn silk is a diuretic it is used to treat urinary tract infections and kidney stones in adults, drinking cornsilk tea is a remedy to help children stop wetting their beds (the condition is known as enuresis). It is also used as a remedy for urinary conditions experienced by the elderly.
Also the corn silk helps to ease edema and swelling caused by many inflammatory conditions, it works as a demulcent, it helps to soothe inflammation, especially inflamed mucous membranes.
Cornsilk also served as a remedy for heart trouble, jaundice, malaria, and obesity.
Corn Silk Side Effects: Do not use corn silk if you also take Lasix (furosemide) or any other prescriptions for water retention. There are other side effects as decrease potassium levels in the blood, skin rashes, itching and allergies.
