If beauty and vigor equals health, and its true that you are what you eat, then you’re in good hands with
our ruby red corn. This corn mesmerizes me, it’s shades are the things of dreams; I want to wear it.
Sometimes glossy and sometimes velvety, it can be so dark... almost black and the next ear will be
cherry red. It’s always a beautifully wrapped gift when you open an ear in the field under the grey skies
of an October morning.
The red color in Bloody Butcher is created by the plant pigment, anthocyanin. The red gene is
recessive, thus a high percentage of red kernels must be planted to maintain the color variation. Our
Bloody Butcher is hand harvested and carefully sorted to maintain its deep red color. Often times our
Bloody Butcher will throw ears that are almost black and they are not kept for seed. I am looking for
shades of bright red to deep blood red. Red corn owes its origins to the indigenous people of the Andes
in South America.
Red corn provides twenty percent more protein than white corn or yellow corn. Anthocyanin, the
pigment that creates the red color in this corn, are antioxidant flavonoids that protect many body
systems. Besides chlorophyll, anthocyanins are probably the most important group of visible plant
pigments. Anthocyanins have anti-inflammatory properties, have been linked to reversing nervous
system damage and can also reverse affects of diabetes. Red corn contains 350% more antioxidants
than common white or yellow corn. (www.specialtyproduce.com) For more information about Bloody
Butcher, search for the “LEGEND OF THE BLOODY BUTCHER CORN”.