The Incredibly Nutrient Dense Food that is Quinoa

Quinoa is a complete food due to the presence of protein and amino acids, as well as essential fatty acids and carbohydrates (James, L.E.A., 2009). This ancient indigenous crop has grown in global popularity over the past few years as a superfood and amazing source of plant protein. Commonly mistaken for a grain, quinoa is, in fact, a seed from the Chenopodium genus.

What is Quinoa?

Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa willd.) is a seed of the goosefoot plant and has an innate ability to thrive and flourish under strenuous conditions as well as in sol with low agricultural input or high salinity levels (Bharagava, A., et al., 2013). It is closely related to beetroot and the dark leafy green chard than it is too common grains.

Quinoa is known as a pseudocereal as it is not a true cereal grain, similar to amaranth and buckwheat. A pseudocereal refers to a seed of a broadleaf plant and not a grass, such as wheat.

Native to South America it was domesticated over 5000 years ago (Arneja, L., et al., 2015) where it has been a vital source of food in the Andean Region since 3000BC, only second in prominence to maize in the Incan Empire (Bharagava, A., et al., 2013). The varied climate and soil present across western South America, from Columbia to Argentina and Chile, has to lead to a…