A Lesser-Known Grain, Chenopodium Quinoa: Review of the Chemical Composition of its Edible Parts

Abstract

In this era of ever-increasing world population, newer food and feed crops that have been hitherto neglected are gaining recognition. The rejection of such lesser-known food crops has been due not to any inferiority but to the lack of research resources in the place of origin and often to their being scorned as “poor people's plants.” The genus Chenopodium supplies tasty and nutritious leaves as well as pink- to cream-coloured edible seeds. Tolerance to cold, drought, and salinity and the high lysine content of the seed protein are the attractive features of quinoa (Chenopodiumquinoa), the most frequently consumed species in the Andean regions of South America, Africa, some parts of Asia, and Europe. This review compares and evaluates the nutritional and antinutritional constituents of the leaves and seeds of C. quinoa vis-à-vis their conventional counterparts and argues for the acceptance of this plant in human diets.

Extrusion Processing of Amaranth and Quinoa into Gluten-Free Snack Foods for Celiac and Gluten-Free Diets

“…This alone shows quinoa to be nutritionally superior to wheat. Another study, by Ahamed et al (1998), had very similar results to these for the chemical composition of quinoa -typical compositions are shown in Table 1. The high protein content of quinoa makes it a great alternative to flour for gluten-free goods.…”

“…Abalone et al (2004) indicated that these seeds have 16% to 18% protein, and high lysine and tryptophan content. Ahamed et al (1998) showed amaranth to have 13-18% protein, 6-8% fat, 63% carbohydrates, and 4-14% crude fiber. Similar to quinoa, amaranth has high protein content, making it ideal to use in gluten-free goods.…”

Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) versus soja (Glycine max [L.] Merr.) en la nutrición humana: revisión sobre las características agroecológicas, de composición y tecnológicas

“…Con respecto al contenido de saponinas se ha establecido que este predomina en el salvado de la quinoa (2,2% 87 ) siendo la remoción de la cáscara de los granos uno de los procedimientos típicamente usados para reducir el sabor amargo. Se ha estimado que un grado de abrasión de 30% reduce más de un 50% del contenido de saponinas en la quinoa cuyo contenido puede oscilar entre 0,1 y 21% 15,52,95 . En la soja el contenido total puede oscilar entre 0,62 y 6,16% 52,96 .…”

The discovery, naming and typification ofChenopodium quinoa(Chenopodiaceae)

“…Ahamed et al (1998) mention that quinoa starch has excellent freeze-thaw stability and is resistant to retrogradation. These starches could provide an interesting alternative to replace chemically modified starches.…”