A diversity of crops of agri-food interest are produced in the Colombian highlands, including quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.), an annual herbaceous plant with white, yellow, red or black seeds, containing between 12% and 21% protein. It is an important source of lysine and methionine. Historically, this plant has played a fundamental role in human nutrition, due to its multiple benefits for disease prevention and treatment. Salinity is the abiotic stress most studied in quinoa; however, the development of this crop on all continents has led to the study of other factors, such as cold and heat, resulted by the increase in weather patterns. This review describes the progress in the temperature effects, photoperiod, atmospheric CO2 concentration and agronomic aspects on the growth and development of quinoa, as well as compositional characteristics of the seeds and their prospective related to the agroclimatic diversity of Colombia.

No abstract

The existence of more of 16,000 varieties of quinoa accessions around the world has caused a disregard on their structural and phytochemical characteristics. Most of such accessions belong to cultivars settled in Colombia. The goal of this research was to evaluate the structural attributes and antioxidant capacities from six quinoa cultivars with high productive potential from central regions in Colombia. This study used middle-range infrared spectroscopy (IR-MIR) to determine the proteins, starch and lipids distinctive to quinoa grains. Ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography electrospray ionization Orbitrap, along with high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC/ESI-Orbitrap MS), were also used to identify the existence of polyphenols in cultivars. The antioxidant capacity was determined through DPPH, ABTS and FRAP. The spectrums exhibited significant variances on the transmittance bands associated with 2922 cm−1, 1016 cm−1 and 1633 cm−1. Moreover, the intensity variations on the peaks from the secondary protein structure were identified, mainly on the bands associated with β-Sheet-1 and -2, random coil α elice and β-turns-2 and -3. Changes found in the ratios 996 cm−1/1014 cm−1 and 1041 cm−1/1014 cm−1 were associated with the crystalline/amorphous affinity. Regarding the antioxidant capacity, great differences were identified (p < 0.001) mainly through FRAP methods, while the phenolic acids and flavonoids were determined by UHPLC/ESI-Orbitrap MS techniques. The presence of apigenin and pinocembrin on grains was reported for the first time. Titicaca and Nariño were the most phytochemically diverse quinoa seeds.

Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) is native to South America; it is characterized by its high nutrient contents and high adaptation capacity to diverse edapho-climatic conditions, which highlights it´s genetic variability expressed as multiple physiological and phenological responses. The objective of this research was to evaluate the physiological response and proximal composition of the grain to three types of fertilization under the environmental conditions of the municipality of Oicata (Boyaca, Colombia) located at 2,875 m a.s.l. The white Soracá variety was planted using a completely randomized design with four treatments and four replicates. It was observed that the fertilization sources have an effect on the physiological and phenological behavior, mainly on the number of leaves, length of stem and chlorophyll content. The reproductive stage and the proximal composition of seeds changed, which is attributed to the application of mineral organic fertilizer that improves the production of quinoa grains, while N-P-K contribution shows greater growth and vegetable development, but less yield.

The protein, carbohydrate, and fat characteristics of quinoa grains reflect in their techno-functional potential. This aspect has been little studied in quinoa, while some physicochemical and rheological characteristics have been generalized for all cultivars under all primary production conditions. The aim of this research is to determine the agro-industrial potential of different quinoa cultivars evaluated under different environments through physicochemical and rheological responses. This study has a factorial design with a first level corresponding to cultivars and a second level to production zones. The results showed that the cultivars present high compositional variability. It was also found that the altitudinal gradient changes protein and starch composition, protein secondary structure, and starch structural conformation. In addition, significant variations were found in viscosity, breakdown, and dispersion setback for all treatments. However, there were no differences between treatments before heating/cooling and after heat treatment.