Maize

First cultivated in Mexico some four thou~and years ago, maize is the single most important source of nourishment for many Central and South American Indians. Grains of maize (ferment) are also used to brew numerous beers as well as chicha (Wedemeyer 1972). Corn silk (stigmata maydis) plays a role in Indian medicine. It also has some significance in modern phytotherapy, where it is used as a diuretic (Czygan 1989; Ratsch 1991a, 174-78*). In addition, it is "smoked by the Indians in Peru as an inebriant" (Roth et al 1994, 742*; Czygan 1989, 326). In the "drug scene;' corn silk is smoked for inebriating purposes, both alone and as an ingredient in smoking blends. In North America, corn silk is one of the ingredients in the ceremonial "tobacco" kinnikinnick. The silk (or, more precisely, styles) contains up to 85% alkaloids of an as yet unknown structure (possibly from the family of the ergot alkaloids or tryptamine derivatives) that are able to induce states of excitation and delirium when inhaled (Roth et al. 1994, 742*).

Literature Czygan, Franz-Christian. 1989. Maisgriffel. In Teedrogen, ed. Max Wichtl, 325-26. Stuttgart: WVG. Wedemeyer, Inge von. 1972. Mais, Rausch- und Heilmittel im alten Peru. Ethnomedizin 2 (I/2): 99-112.