Why are kernels of corn so impervious to the digestive process?

They are cellulose.Cellulose is not digestible by humans. It is by cows.

As someone who does colonoscopy, corn is evil. Undigested kernels of corn are EXACTLY the right size to get stuck in the suction channel of a colonoscope and screw up the exam. They are a pain in the ass.

So they can be spread by birds and small animals, that’s why seeds and stuff don’t digest.

Plants have actually evolved to benifit from being eaten, cool.

The outside of the kernel is coated with a waxy (for lack of a better term) layer that the enzymes and digestive juices can’t penetrate. If the kernel isn’t chewed well, the kernel passes through. It happens in cows as well. That’s why you see birds in the manure. Farmers use cracking mills to break up as many kernels as possible.

@rarebear What I usually do is get my assistant to take a bladder syringe fill it with sterile water and connect to the suction barb of the scope. I put my finger over the suction button and bipsy valve and then get the assistant to flush the water through the scope with a bit of force (if you’re not holding on to the buttons the water plus whatever other shit was in the suction channel will be sprayed all over the room)

@Lightlyseared That’s what I do also. It’s just a pain. Where it really is bad is if I’ve done a polypectomy and I want to suction the polyp up through the suction channel into a polyp trap, but the corn gets in there instead. I wash the corn out, and the polyp gets pushed out of the field of view and then I have to go on a hunting mission to find it.

@Rarebear ahhh yes the ancient game of polyp hunting thats always fun last thing on a Friday

What you see are husks of the kernel. What’s inside that little skin of kernel is very digestible.