Nutritional Composition of Six Amaranth (Amaranthus caudatus) Andean Varieties

Mérida-López, Jenny; Pérez, Sander Jonathan; Bergenståhl, Björn; Purhagen, Jeanette; Rojas, Cinthia Carola

doi:10.3390/crops3010008

Open AccessArticle

Nutritional Composition of Six Amaranth (Amaranthus caudatus) Andean Varieties

by

Jenny Mérida-López

^1,2,*

,

Sander Jonathan Pérez

¹

,

Björn Bergenståhl

²,

Jeanette Purhagen

² and

Cinthia Carola Rojas

¹

Food and Natural Products Center, San Simon University, Cochabamba, Bolivia

²

Department of Food Technology Engineering and Nutrition, Lund University, Naturvetarvägen 12, 22362 Lund, Sweden

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Crops 2023, 3(1), 78-87; https://doi.org/10.3390/crops3010008

Submission received: 31 January 2023 / Revised: 16 February 2023 / Accepted: 20 February 2023 / Published: 22 February 2023

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Phytochemicals of Crop Plants)

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Abstract

Amaranthus caudatus is a nutrient-rich Andean pseudocereal with wide genetic variability. Six productive varieties (Oscar Blanco, Pucara, Tomina, Cotahuasi, Barbechos, and Guindo Criollo) were compared by proximate, mineral, and fatty acid composition. The proximal content showed certain singularities in the varieties. Barbechos and Guindo Criollo stood out for their fat content (9.50% and 9.01%, respectively), while Tomina stood out for their carbohydrate content (72.6%), and Pucara and Oscar Blanco for their fiber content (4.59% and 4.48%, respectively). The mineral content presented differences, highlighting the Ca content for Pucara (108 mg/100 g), and Tomina with micro-minerals (Zn, Mn, Fe, and Cu, 4.67, 5.90, 9.13 and 1.03 mg/100 g, respectively). All varieties showed high tricosanic acid (C23:0) content, and Cotahuasi was highlighted for its high linoleic acid (C18:2) content. Multivariate analysis showed negative correlations between proteins and carbohydrates, and between fat and fiber in their proximal content, as well as between Fe and Na for their mineral content, and C18:1 and C18:2 for the fatty acids. Although certain differences were found, the total nutritional composition tended to have minor differences between the investigated varieties.

Keywords: amaranth; fatty acid composition; mineral composition; proximate composition; pseudocereal; varieties

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MDPI and ACS Style

Mérida-López, J.; Pérez, S.J.; Bergenståhl, B.; Purhagen, J.; Rojas, C.C. Nutritional Composition of Six Amaranth (Amaranthus caudatus) Andean Varieties. Crops 2023, 3, 78-87. https://doi.org/10.3390/crops3010008

AMA Style

Mérida-López J, Pérez SJ, Bergenståhl B, Purhagen J, Rojas CC. Nutritional Composition of Six Amaranth (Amaranthus caudatus) Andean Varieties. Crops. 2023; 3(1):78-87. https://doi.org/10.3390/crops3010008

Chicago/Turabian Style

Mérida-López, Jenny, Sander Jonathan Pérez, Björn Bergenståhl, Jeanette Purhagen, and Cinthia Carola Rojas. 2023. "Nutritional Composition of Six Amaranth (Amaranthus caudatus) Andean Varieties" Crops 3, no. 1: 78-87. https://doi.org/10.3390/crops3010008

APA Style

Mérida-López, J., Pérez, S. J., Bergenståhl, B., Purhagen, J., & Rojas, C. C. (2023). Nutritional Composition of Six Amaranth (Amaranthus caudatus) Andean Varieties. Crops, 3(1), 78-87. https://doi.org/10.3390/crops3010008

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Nutritional Composition of Six Amaranth (Amaranthus caudatus) Andean Varieties

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