Quinoa

Quinoa (pronounced as kinwah; quinua in spanish) is an incredibly nutritious "grain-like seed" obtained from the goosefoot family plant growing in highland plains of south-american andesaregion. The incas believed quinua as athe mother grain (chisaya mama)a as eating it in food would confer them prolonged and healthy life. The crop was once the staple food sources of incas before the spanish explorers forced them to abandon its cultivation.

Quinua is a goosefoot (chenopodiaceae) family of annual herbs. White goosefoot (c. Album), and good king henry (c. Bonus-henricus) are some of the closely related species.

The plant reaches about 3-6 feet in height and prefers well-drained, neutral ph and sandy soil; however, it thrives well under scanty environmental conditions and alkaline (salty) soils. It is cultivated as one of the chief crops in rain-shadow highlands of bolivia, peru, chile and ecuador. In its natural habitat, quinoa begins flowering (inflorescence) in july, which subsequently develops into edible seeds by august end through september. Its seeds, which appear like amaranth seeds, feature white, gray, pink to light-brown in color depending upon the cultivar type and measure about two mm in diameter. The seeds feature outer seed coat containing bitter substances known as saponins, which should be removed before eating.

Quinoa indeed has found renewed interest, particularly among the food scientists because of its sustainable characteristic of thriving under stress growing conditions. Additionally, it's well-balanced protein, fat and mineral composition may be an answer for malnutrition alleviation in famine-prone regions around the world.

Quinoa does not belong to the cereal-class of staple grains. Instead, it is a seed, much similar to other dicotyledons such as amaranth, and legume family plants. Nonetheless, its seeds feature proportionately less fat content than oil seeds and hence treated like any other staple grains.

100 g quinoa seeds (grains) provide 368 calories.

The grains are moderate sources of energy, and their calorie content may be compared to that of major cereals such as wheat, maize, rice and that of pulses like chickpea, mung bean, cowpea (black-eye pea), etc.

Quinoa grains provide 14-18 g of protein per 100 g. They compose all the required essential amino acids for the human body at excellent proportions, especially in lysine, which is otherwise a limiting amino acid in grains like wheat, maize, rice, etc.

Quinoa is one of the gluten-free staple foods.

Gluten is the protein present in certain grass family grains may induce stomach upset and diarrhea in individuals with celiac disease.

They are rich source of soluble and insoluble dietary fiber. 100 g provide 7 g or 18.5% of daily requirement of fiber. Fiber increase bulkiness of the food and help prevent constipation by speeding up its movement through the gut. In fact, gastro-intestinal transit time of food is greatly decreased. Fiber also binds to toxins and aid in their excretion from the gut and helps protect the colon mucus membrane from cancers. In addition, dietary fibers bind to bile salts (produced from cholesterol) and decrease their re-absorption in colon, thus help lower serum ldl cholesterol levels.

Quinoa grains are indeed very good sources of b-complex group of vitamins, vitamin e (i plus-minus -tocopherol) and essential fatty acids such as linoleic and i plus-minus -linolenic acid (18:3). 100 g of grains contain 184 ag or 46% of daily-required levels of folates (b9).

Tender quinoa leaves and flower-heads are excellent sources of vitamin a, folate and antioxidants such as lutein, carotene, crypto-xanthin, and zea-xanthin. Yellow and red cultivar seeds also rich in these pigment antioxidants. Altogether, these compounds indeed functions as powerful anti-oxidants by removing harmful free radicals from the body thus protect from cancers, infection, aging and degenerative neurological diseases.

Quinoa is an excellent source of minerals like iron, copper, calcium, potassium, manganese, and magnesium. Copper is required for the production of red blood cells. Iron is required for red blood cell formation. Magnesium relaxes blood vessels leading to brain and found to have curative effects on depression, and headache. Zinc is a co-factor in many enzymes that regulate growth and development, sperm generation, digestion and nucleic acid synthesis. Potassium is an important component of cell and body fluids that helps controlling heart rate and blood pressure. Manganese is used by the body as a co-factor for the powerful anti-oxidant enzyme, superoxide dismutase.

Quinoa is not a cereal grain, but a dicotyledon seed (minute fruit) of goosefoot plant. Nonetheless, it has been treated like grain and consumed as one of the chief food sources along with potato and corn since ancient times by native andean inhabitants.

It features all the characteristics of a seed and composes good proportions of all the essential amino acids, fats, starch, fiber, minerals, and vitamins.

Quinoa oil, extracted from its seeds indeed is an excellent source of essential fatty acids, and vitamin e.

The unprocessed quinoa grain has a thick outer coat (hull) that must be removed before it fit for consumption. This outer coat contains anti-nutrient compound, saponin that has a bitter, soapy taste.

Virtually, all the available grains of quinoa are de-hulled and pre-washed in the us stores.

At home, wash in cold water repeatedly until all the foam disappears before cooking. Quinoa cooked as the same way as you cook other staples like buckwheat, rice, etc. Roughly, one cup of dry grains cooks to three cups. Cooked quinoa becomes fluffy, chewy and attains pearl like translucency, and pleasant taste.