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, drouglit, and salinity and the high lysine content of the seed protein are the attractive features of quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa), 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 ofC. quinoa vis-avis their conventional counterparts and argues for the acceptance of this plant in human diets. © 1998, The United Nations University.