POPCORN

Researchers have found evidence that suggests communities living along the coast of Peru were eating popcorns some 6700 years ago,about 1000 years earlier than previously predicted.They arrived at this conclusion after unearthing corn husks,stalks,cobs and tassels (pollen-producing flowers on corn) dating 6700 to 3000 years ago,at Paredones and Huaca Prieta,two sites on Peru's northern coast.

"The evidence was unearthed during the past three years" study researcher Dolores Piperno told Life science. The characteristics of the corncobs suggest that the sites ancient inhabitants prepared and ate corn in several ways, including making corn flour and pop corn.The researcher also found corn micro-fossils containing starch grains and phytoliths which are microscopic particles formed by plants and mainly composed of silicon dioxide. The Peruvian popcorn is the oldest macro-fossil evidence for popcorn in South America.