166 AMARANTH
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AMARANTH
R Bressani, Instituto de Investı́gaciones, Universidad
del Valle de Guatemala, Guatemala
Copyright 2003, Elsevier Science Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Background
0001 Amaranth, a legacy of the Aztecs, Mayas, and Incas,
continues to be an underexploited plant with a prom-
ising economic value due to the variety of uses it can
have and the benefits it can provide to producers,
processors, and consumers. Present interests have
developed because the plant offers leaves of a high
nutritional quality when used as a vegetable, because
the grains have a high protein content and quality,
and because the whole plant offers a highly accept-
able forage. The amaranth plant is also attractive
since it adapts itself to a large number of environ-
ments, grows with vigor, produces large amounts of
biomass, and resists drought, heat, and pests. Less
attractive features of the plant include leaves that
tend to accumulate nitrate and oxalates, and a very
small grain size, which necessitates a large labor force
when harvesting. With only a relative small research
effort, a strong knowledge base is being constructed
and is beginning to reveal the economic value and
nutritional benefits of this ancient legacy crop.
Origin and Distribution
0002 The Amaranthacea comprise over 60 genera, which
include around 800 species of dicotlyledonous, herb-
aceous plants, of either annual or perennial growth.
There are three species of the genus Amaranthus that
produce relatively large inflorescences with often
more than 50 000 edible seeds per plant. These are
A. hypochondriacus from Mexico, A. cruentus from
Guatemala and A. caudatus from Peru and other
Andean countries. Vegetable amaranths grow very
well in the hot, humid regions of Africa, South-east
Asia, Southern China, and India; they are represented
by various amaranth species, such as A. tricolor,
A. dubius, A. cruentus, A. edulis, A. retroflexus,
A. viridis, and A. hybridus. Grain amaranth was an
of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine
216: 81–85.
Zatta PF and Alfrey AC (1997) Aluminium Toxicity in
Infant’s Health and Disease. Singapore: World Scientific.
important crop for the preHispanic, New World civ-
ilizations. Its presence goes back some 4000 years bc
in the Tehuacan Valley in Mexico, also the most likely
site for the origin of maize. Its use is said to have
been highly associated with religious festivities,
which were forbidden by the Spanish conquerors
and resulted in the elimination of the crop. Its pro-
duction declined to small and insignificant levels, but
it did not disappear. From Mesoamerica and the
Andean region, grain amaranth was apparently
carried as a weed, ornamental, or grain to other
parts of the world. At present, there are three major
germ plasm collections: (1) USDA Plant Introduction
Center, Ames, Iowa, US; (2) Universidad del Cuzco,
Cuzco, Peru; (3) National Bureau of Plant Genetic
Resources, Shimla, India.
Classification
Amaranth is a dicotyledonous plant, not a grass like 0003
most cereals, which are monocotyledonous; rather,
it is a pseudocereal. Amaranth shows an extreme
botanical plasticity in adaptation that contributes to
difficulties and confusion in its taxonomy. It is classi-
fied by means of flower structure, the form and pro-
portion of leaves and inflorescence. These highly
variable characters also allow for a high hybridiza-
tion frequency, and assure the availability of a large
germ plasm reserve.
Plant Description
Amaranths are broad-leafed plants that can grow to 0004
about 1.5–3.0 m high. The plant has a variable
growth pattern in the type and number of branches,
all of which end with a small seed head, sometimes
maturing at the same time as the main seed head. Leaf
shape varies from lanceolate to ovate to elliptic. Leaf
number and size show great variability within and
between species. The leaves, stems, and flowers of
amaranth can be green, gold, reddish purple, or vari-
ous shades. The seed head, some 50–60 cm high,
varies from pendulous to spiked, and seed color is
usually black, gold, or cream.