Health Benefits: Corn silk

Do you often throw away the string of silky fibres from the end of the corn before you eat the corn?

- Neha Ghosh

You will not do so after reading this article. When you take off the greenish cover surrounding the corn cob, there is a layer of silky strings. These silky strings are called corn silk. Corn silk (Stigma maydis) is long, silky, thin threads which grow underneath the husk of the corn. This corn silk contains proteins, carbohydrates, calcium, potassium, magnesium, sodium, salts, volatile oils, alkaloids, tannins, saponins, flavonoids, stigmasterol and sitosterol. Corn silk is used both in fresh and dried forms and it has been used in traditional Chinese and Native American medicine to treat a variety of ailments. Let's read on to know the health benefits of corn silk.

■Prevents oxidative damage: The antioxidants in corn silk can help prevent free radical damage and oxidative stress. Oxidative stress is responsible for causing a number of chronic diseases, including cancer, heart disease and diabetes.