quinoa - wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

4/16/2016 Quinoa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinoa 1/12 Quinoa Scientific classification Kingdom: Plantae (unranked): Angio spe rms (unranked): Eudicots (unranked): Core eudi cots Order: Caryophyllales Fa mily: Ama rantha cea e Subf ami ly: Chenopodi oi dea e Genus: Chenopodium Species: C. quinoa Binomial name Chenopodium quinoa Willd. Quinoa From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Quinoa (/ˈkiːnoʊ.ә/, from Quechua kinwa or kinuwa) [2] is a species of the goosefoot genus ( Chenopodi um quinoa), a grain crop grown primarily for its edible seeds. It is a pseudocereal, similar in some respects to buck wheat, rather than a true cereal, as it is not a member of the true grass family. As a chenopod, quinoa is closely related to species such as beetroots, spinach and tumbleweeds. As a member of the Amaranthaceae family, it is related to and resembles amaranth, which is also a pseudocereal. After harvest, the seeds must be processed to remove the coating c ontaining the bitter-tasting saponins. The seeds are in general cook ed the same way as rice and can be used in a wide range of dishes. The leaves are eaten as a leaf vegetable, much like amaranth, but commercial availability of quinoa greens is limited. The nutrient composition is favourable compared with common cereals. Quinoa seeds contain essential amino acids like lysine and acceptable quantities of calcium, phosphorus, and iron. [3] It is high in protein, and is tolerant of dry soil. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) declared 2013 to be the International Year of Quinoa. [4] Chenopod ium formosanum is a Taiwanese variant of Red quinoa that is endemic to Taiwan, and is widely grown in Eastern and Southern Taiwanese Aboriginal cultures. Quinoa originated in the Andean region of Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colom bia an d Chile, [5] and was domesticated 3,000 to 4,000 years ago for human consumption in the Lake Titicaca basin, though archaeological evidence shows a non-domesticated association with pastoral herding some 5,200 to 7,000 year s ago. [6] Similar Chenopodium species, such as pitseed goosefoot (Cheno podium berl andieri ) and fat hen (Chenopodium album), were grown and domesticated in North America as part of the Eastern Agricultural Complex before maize agriculture became popular. [7] Fat hen, which has a widespread distribution in the Northern Hemisphere, produces edib le seeds and gree ns much like quino a, but in smaller quantities. Contents 1 Bio logy

quinoa - wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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