By El Mercurio

After one year and a half since the application to the National Institute of Industrial Property (Instituto Nacional de Propiedad Industrial, INAPI) to obtain Geographic Indication (I.G.), the lluteño corn will receive today this category, with which it will become the first product of the Region of Arica y Parinacota to obtain its Sello de Origen (Origin Market), and the 15th nationwide. 

This corn is characterized by its sweetness, white and big grains, and by its floury texture, which differentiates it from other corns produced in Chile, since it is grown in one of the driest zones in the world, the Valle de la Luna (Moon Valley), which circumstance has enabled its physiological adaptation mechanisms to tolerate the excess of salt present in the land, thereby allowing for high levels of biological substances synthetizing.

 

“We believe that the obtainment of Origin Mark will contribute to the rescue of the local culture, to the acknowledgement and increase in demand of this product, and to incentivize the establishment of new touristic routes in the region”, stresses the director of INAPI, Maximiliano Santa Cruz.