last final thesis of umer

Food products, like corn meal, corn flakes, etc., can be prepared. Green cobs are roasted and eaten
by the people. It is used in making industrial products, like alcohol, corn starch (dextrose), glucose,
corn oil, corn syrup etc., and used in canning industry; production of polymer, making paper, paper
boards, and bread. Its grain contains proteins (10%), carbohydrates (70%), oil (4%), albuminoides
(10.4%), crude fiber (2.3%) and ash (1.4%) (Chandrase, 2010).
In developed countries, maize is consumed mainly as second-cycle produce, in the form of meat,
eggs and dairy products. In developing countries, it is consumed directly and serves as staple diet
for some 200 million people. Most people regard maize as a breakfast cereal. However, in a
processed form it is also found as fuel (ethanol) and starch. Starch in turn involves enzymatic
conversion into products, such as sorbitol, dextrine, sorbic and lactic acid, and appears in
household items, such as beer, ice cream, syrup, shoe polish, glue, fireworks,ink, batteries,
mustard, cosmetics, aspirin and paint ( Plessis, 2003).
In Ethiopia maize is produced mainly for food, especially in major maize producing regions,
particularly for low income groups, it is used as stable food. It is consumed as injera,
porridge,bread and nefro. It is also consumed roasted or boiled as vegetable at green stage. In
addition to the above, it is used to prepare local alcoholic drinks known as tella and arekie. The
leaf and stalk are used for animal feed and also dried stalk and cobs are used for fuel. It also used
as industrial raw material for oil and glucose production, (MoA, 2010).
Moreover, maize plays a central role in Ethiopia’s food security. It is the lowest cost source of
cereal calories. It is the staple cereal crop with the highest current and potential yield from available
inputs, at 2.2 tons per hectare in 2008/09 with a potential for 4.7 tons per hectare according to onfarm
field trials, when cultivated with fertilizer (Rashid et al., 2010).
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