Potential of Amaranth in Alleviating Malnutrition in Indonesia

Abstract

An extricable link between biodiversity and nutrition security has been magnified by many researchers over the past three decades as humans have utilized more than 10,000 edible species from the totally expected to be 300,000 plant species. A strong reliance on handful of major crops has inherent agronomic, ecological, and nutritional risks and is probably unsustainable in the long run. On the other hand, global food production is still a main challenge for the future of mankind. New strategies such as the exploration and utilization of underutilized crops have been affirmed as some of the promising fields to meet world food needs. As such crop, amaranth (Amaranthus spp.) has the potential to be prospected as potential plant in alleviating malnutrition in most of the developing countries, especially in Indonesia (location: 6 o N to 11 o S and from 95 o W to 141°E) also known as the biggest archipelago country in the world. Malnutrition with its two constituents of protein-energy malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies has been recognized as a persisting public health challenge in many developing countries, e.g., Africa, Asia, and Indonesia. This paper highlights the advantage of amaranth in terms of their nutrition and further application in nutraceuticals.