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

Abstract

The design of functional foods from well-known vegetables products such as soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.) and the enhancement of ancestral products like quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) are feasible strategies to combat worldwide malnutrition. The aim of this review is to describe the agroecological, compositional, nutritional and technological features of these two different vegetable species (leguminous and pseudo-cereal) based on prior publications. In order to reach this goal, a review was performed using databases (Scopus, Web of Science, Scielo) and complemented with a subsequent manual search on Google Scholar and websites of recognized institutions. The included studies (n=117) in this review show that soybean adapts better to low altitudes (~1,000m a. s. l.), while quinoa does it in a range of higher altitudes (500-4,000m a. s. l.) with a high tolerance to frost. Both are a source of high quality proteic given that supply the suggested requirements of essential aminoacids for children and adults with no significant differences, particularly tryptophan and lysine, and due to the high percentages of digestibility (> 70%). Their low concentrations of prolamins and reasonable levels of Fe, Zn, Ca, daidzein and genistein make of them interesting products for food industry.