corn
The most relevant crop in the Maya culture was and continues to be the maize. Its harvest was enough to feed the whole population and also could be cultivated in milpa, the system in which it is combined with other plants such as beans, squash, sweet potatoes, yuca and chili.
The Maize God is a principal deity in Maya religion. Each stage in the farming cycle was preceded by religious ritual. Corn continues to be the cornerstone of Maya culture.
It provides sustenance and brings spiritual significance to daily life.
Corn had a very deep religious significance to the Maya. It was believed that the gods created man from corn flour and the blood of the gods.
According to the Popol Vuh, maize is both the material used when humans are formed and the material that provides nourishment to the form
The link between the plant and humans led them to consider themselves as the people of corn, as well pointed out in the Popol Vuh.
Corn is present in religious ways, for offerings where they burn it with copal or pom, flowers, tobacco, alcohol, etc.
In some ceremonies women drank Saka, which means corn mass and is a non-acoholic berverage made of cooked corn (mixtamal)
Nowadays, maize still continues being a crucial part of the Maya diet. So much, that many times it represents more than 60% of daily food intake. For the reasons given above and others, maize is not just food in this region; it is a foundation of culture, beliefs, keeping tradition, and sustenance that is sacred.
Maize is for a fact always in a story in the Popol Vuh and how it is used as a offering to the gods whenever there is a bloodletting ritual or even portrayed as the go to food for anything spiritual because that is just how important maize is to the Maya.