Genetic resources and breeding approaches for improvement of amaranth (Amaranthus spp.) and quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa)

Abstract

Nowadays, the human population is more concerned about their diet and very specific in choosing their food sources to ensure a healthy lifestyle and avoid diseases. So people are shifting to more smart nutritious food choices other than regular cereals and staple foods they have been eating for a long time. Pseudocereals, especially, amaranth and quinoa, are important alternatives to traditional cereals due to comparatively higher nutrition, essential minerals, amino acids, and zero gluten. Both Amaranchaceae crops are low-input demanding and hardy plants tolerant to stress, drought, and salinity conditions. Thus, these crops may benefit developing countries that follow subsistence agriculture and have limited farming resources. However, these are underutilized orphan crops, and the efforts to improve them by reducing their saponin content remain ignored for a long time. Furthermore, these crops have very rich variability, but the progress of their genetic gain for getting high-yielding genotypes is slow. Realizing problems in traditional cereals and opting for crop diversification to tackle climate change, research should be focused on the genetic improvement for low saponin, nutritionally rich, tolerant to biotic and abiotic stresses, location-specific photoperiod, and high yielding varietal development of amaranth and quinoa to expand their commercial cultivation. The latest technologies that can accelerate the breeding to improve yield and quality in these crops are much behind and slower than the already established major crops of the world. We could learn from past mistakes and utilize the latest trends such as CRISPR/Cas, TILLING, and RNA interference (RNAi) technology to improve these pseudocereals genetically. Hence, the study reviewed important nutrition quality traits, morphological descriptors, their breeding behavior, available genetic resources, and breeding approaches for these crops to shed light on future breeding strategies to develop superior genotypes.

Millets and pseudocereals: A treasure for climate resilient agriculture ensuring food and nutrition security

“…It boasts a higher content of fiber (8%), essential minerals (calcium, magnesium, iron), and vitamins (C, β-carotene, folic acid) (Gupta et al 2005). Additionally, amaranth offers a complete protein source, containing 22.5% protein and all but 3 of the essential amino acids, particularly lysine (Schmidit et al 2021;Anuradha et al 2023). This gluten-free grain is also rich in bioactive compounds like vitamin C, amaranthine, rutin, and carotenoids, and boasts valuable grain oil with squalene, vitamin E, phytosterols, and fatty acids (Schmidit et al 2021;Bressani et al 1992).…”

Genome-Wide Comparative Analysis of Five Amaranthaceae Species Reveals a Large Amount of Repeat Content

“…Amaranth species such as A. hypochondriacus , A. cruentus , and A. caudatus are usually domesticated for grain production and are commonly referred to as ‘pseudo-cereals’, and species such as A. tricolor , A. dubius , A. blitum , and A. viridis are mostly cultivated as leafy vegetables, while A. palmeri (palmer amaranth), A. retroflexus (redroot pigweed), A. spinosus (spiny amaranth), and A. albus (tumbleweed) represent weed species [ 6 , 7 ]. Grain amaranths are known for their magnificent appearance, a few common names of grain amaranths include, A. hypochondriacus known as prince’s feather, A. cruentus known as purple amaranth, A. caudatus known as love-lies-bleeding, which is grown primarily as an ornamental, and A. tricolor , known as tampala, grown mostly for its attractive color of leaves [ 8 ].…”

Improving of Amaranth (Amaranthus Spp.) and Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) by Genetic Resources

“…Quinoa is known by many names within the same community in the Andean region. In the Aymara language, it is renowned for its multiple names, such as kinua, quinhua, and jupha, which are based on the different colors of its grains [10][11][12][13][14]. Quinoa thrives on nutrient-deficient soil found in rainfed environments, has exceptional versatility in adapting to many agro-climatic conditions, and possesses untapped commercial prospects in India [15].…”