With the purpose of valuing the species Chenopodium quinoa Willd (quinoa), as well as encouraging the consumption of its grains, this study aimed at providing a detailed evaluation of the nutritional value and chemical composition of several quinoa grains of different colour varieties (black, red and white) from different origins. The results demonstrated an excellent composition, namely in the presence of many compounds of interest, such as organic acids, tocopherols and unsaturated fatty acids, as well as a very favourable nutritional profile, with carbohydrates and proteins being the prominent macronutrients. Regarding the different varieties, statistical analysis showed that there were no significant differences in studied parameters, with the exception of proteins, carbohydrates, oxalic acid, γ-tocopherol and total tocopherols content. Thus, this pseudocereal takes a position of nutritional excellence, compared to others cereals more commonly consumed, thereby representing a promising ingredient for many uses in the food industry. Hernández-Ledesma, 2017). Some scientific studies have been developed to characterize Chenopodium quinoa Willd; however, this study intends to make a

The objective of this study was to evaluate the combined effect of xanthan gum (XG) on physicochemical, rheological and textural properties of gluten-free batter and bread. To prepare gluten-free batter, different levels of XG (1.5, 2.5 and 3.5%) and water (90, 100 and 110%) were added to a base formula of rice (50%), maize (30%) and quinoa flours (20%); and the batters were evaluated in a factorial design. Several properties on both batter (stickiness and back extrusion) and its corresponding bread (loaf specific volume, baking loss, water activity and pH, texture profile, mean cell area, mean cell density, cell size uniformity, void fraction, mean cell compactness and mean cell aspect ratio) were then evaluated. Higher XG doses (p < .001) tended to produce batters of lower stickiness, adhesion and cohesive-strength, yet, of higher firmness, consistency, cohesiveness and viscosity index. After baking, these loaves presented lower specific volume; lower crumb a, pH, hardness, springiness, mean cell area and void fraction; and higher (p < .001) chewiness, resilience, mean cell density, cell size uniformity and mean cell compactness. The sticker and less consistent batters produced with higher WC rendered larger bread loaves of softer and more springy/resilient crumbs with greater mean cell size and void fraction. Gluten-free loaves of good appearance in terms of higher specific volume, lower crumb hardness, higher crumb springiness, and open grain visual texture were obtained in formulations with 110% WC and XG doses between 1.5 and 2.5%.

The ingestion of bioactive compounds has revealed health benefits, namely in the prevention and/or treatment of several diseases. This work aims to characterize the phenolic profile of three colour varieties of Chenopodium quinoa Willd. grains (black, red and white), and also evaluate their cytotoxic and antimicrobial activity. All varieties revealed the presence of phenolic compounds, namely, quercetin and kaempferol derivatives. In this study, quinoa grains did not reveal any anti-proliferative capacity in tumour cell lines, and, as expected, they were devoid of any toxicity. All of the analysed extracts possessed antibacterial and antifungal activities (inhibitory and bactericidal/fungicidal) against the microbial strains considered, exhibiting promising values of minimum bactericidal concentrations (mean MBC 0.153-0.916 mg/mL) and minimum fungicidal concentrations (mean MFC 0.211-0.884 mg/mL). Quinoa varieties represent a good source of bioactive compounds, interfering beneficially in the organism, specifically as antimicrobial agents. Thus, these extracts could be used in the development of bioactive ingredients.