Amaranth Modern Prospects for an Ancient Crop (1984) / Chapter Skim
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'Grain Amaranths'
'Grain Amaranths'
Pages 27-38
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From page 27... ...
Other forms of the species give much better grain yields. One good variety that has club-shaped inflorescences is Amaranthus caudatus cv edulis (sometimes classified as Amaranthus edulis or Amaranthus mantegazzianus)
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From page 28... ...
For complete taxonomic details of numbered items, see Grubben and van Sloten, 1981.)
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From page 29... ...
Amaranthus cruentus has also survived as a grain crop in a few Indian villages of southern Mexico and Guatemala and as a crop used to extract a red dye for coloring corn-based foods in the Indian pueblos of the arid southwestern United States, where it probably became established in prehistoric times. AMARANTHUS HYPOCHONDRIACUS The most robust, highest yielding of the grain types, Amaranthus hypochondriacus was probably domesticated in central Mexico, farther north and at a later time than Amaranthus cruentus.
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From page 30... ...
Amaranthus cruentus 30
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From page 31... ...
PHYSICAL COMPOSITION Amaranth seeds are very small; 1,000-3,000 seeds per gram are common. Although selections have been made over the years for pale seeds (the wild species all have black seeds)
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From page 32... ...
. The seed is popped on a hot stone or metal sheet over a fire (3)
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From page 34... ...
The charts on page 7 show the composition of amaranth in comparison with the more common grains. The protein in amaranth seeds is unusual because its balance of amino acids is closer to the optimum balance required in the human diet than that of most plant proteins.
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From page 35... ...
for cooked grain, and its total digestibility is about 90 percent. Amaranth protein, at a biological value of 75, comes closer than any other grain protein to the perfect balance of essential amino acids, which theoretically would score 100 on the nutritionists' scale of protein quality based on amino acid composition.
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From page 36... ...
A cruentusb Lysine 5.3 5.5 5.1 Histidine 2.5 2.5 2.4 Threonine 3.5 3.6 3.4 Cysteine 2.3 2.1 2.1 Methionine 2.4 2.6 1.9 Met + Cys 4.7 4.7 4.0 Valine 4.1 4.5 4.2 Isoleucine 3.6 3.9 3.6 Leucine 5.3 5.7 5.1 Tyrosine 2.8 3.3 2.6 Phenylalanine 3.4 4.0 3.4 Serine 5.9 6.3 5.4 Glycine 6.9 7.4 7.0 Arginine 7.9 Alanine 3.4 Aspartic acid 7.8 Glutamic acid 14.2 Proline 3.6 Tryptophan Nitrogen recovered 89.6 86.8 85 Chemical score0 75 81 73 " Carlsson, 1980 b Betschart et al., 1981 " The chemical score of whole wheat protein is 73, and of soybean protein, 74 (FAO, 1970)
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From page 37... ...
lysine content of amaranth improves the protein quality of foods that normally would be made from flours of other grains such as corn, rice, or wheat. This is particularly beneficial for infants, children, and pregnant and lactating women.
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From page 38... ...
. FEED Unprocessed amaranth grain probably can be used as an animal feed, particularly for poultry.
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