ABSTRACT
Several theories have been proposed about the specific origin of maize in Mesoamenca. It may have been derived from hybridization between small domesticated maize and a teosinte of section Luxuriantes, either Z. luxurians or Z. diploperennis. The domestication of maize is of particular interest to researchers archaeologists, geneticist, ethnobotanists, geographers, etc. The process is thought by some to have started 7,500 to 12,000 years ago. The center of origin for Zea mays has been established as the Mesoamerican region, now Mexico and Central America. The Portuguese introduced maize to Southeast-Asia from the America in the 16th century. In India, Portuguese introduced maize during the seventeenth century. From India it went to China and later it was introduced in Philippines and the East Indies. An early hypothesis proposed that Z. mays sp. mexicana was the product of a natural hybridization of Tripsacum and Zea.
