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8.5.3.4 AMARANTH AND QUINOA

Amaranth (Amaranthus hypochondriacus) is an ancient and very nutritious
food crop cultivated mainly in South America and Mexico, but grows also
very well across the world. Of late, the use of amaranth and quinoa has
broadened not only in the common diet, but also in diet of people with celiac
disease or allergies to typical cereals (Berti et al., 2005). These pseudocer-
eals seeds have high nutritional and functional values which are associated
with the quality and quantity of their proteins, fats, and antioxidant poten-
tial (Gorinstein et al., 2002; Gorinstein et al., 2007; Paśko et al., 2007).
Amaranth is a crop naturally resistant to water deficit and is a good source
of nutritious seeds. Barba de la Rosa et al. (2009) analyzed physical and
proximal-nutritional properties of amaranth seeds obtained from different
varieties (Tulyehualco, Nutrisol DGETI, and Gabriela) and characterized
their phenolic acids and flavonoids. Polyphenols as rutin (4.0–10.2 mg/g
flour) and nicotiflorin (7.2–4.8 mg/g flour) were detected.
Two varieties (Centenario and Oscar Blanco) of Andean native grain,
kiwicha (Amaranthus caudatus), were evaluated as sources of DF and of
some bioactive compounds (Repo-Carrasco-Valencia et al., 2009). The
impact of low-cost extrusion on the content of these components was studied
for technological applications. The content of TDF in Centenario was higher
(16.4%) than in Oscar Blanco (13.8%). The extrusion process decreased the
total and IDF contents in both varieties while in Centenario, the content of
SDF increased, from 2.5 to 3.1%. The content of phytic acid in raw kiwicha
was 0.3% for both varieties, and the content of total phenolic compounds was
98.7 and 112.9 mg GAE/100 g of sample, for Centenario and Oscar Blanco,
respectively. Antioxidant activity of both the varieties of raw kiwicha was
evaluated through DPPH and ABTS methods. The content of total phenolics,
phytic acid and the antioxidant activity decreased in both varieties during the
extrusion process.
The consumption of sprouts—the atypical vegetable, is becoming
a new trend which has received attention as functional foods, because of
their nutritive value including amino acid, fiber, trace elements, vitamins
as well as flavonoids, and phenolic acids (Paśko et al., 2008). Its intake has
become very popular among people interested in improving and maintaining
their health status by changing dietary habits. The sprouts of amaranth and
quinoa are new vegetables, which can be used as a source of nutrition. Total
antioxidant capacity, TPCs and anthocyanins contents were determined in
Amaranthus cruentus and Chenopodium quinoa seeds and sprouts (Paśko
et al., 2009). Sprouts activity depended on the length of their growth, and