Nutritional Quality of Some Cultivated and Wild Species of Amaranthus L

Amaranthus vegetable and seeds are highly nutritious. Four species of Amaranthus were planted in pots in a glass house and leaves were harvested. Fresh leaves were analyzed for protein and carbohydrate content and oven dried leaves for Fe, Ca, K and Na contents. Protein content was varied from 6.10-9.00g/100g of fresh leaves. The amount of carbohydrate in fresh leaves of all four species varied from 9.75g-21.29g. Among the species, A. spinosus showed higher amount (21.29g) which is almost two folds higher than A. tricolor (9.75g). Results showed that A. viridis had higher accumulation (54mg). Overall K amount in the dry leaves of the four species varied between 2230-3900mg per 100 g of dry leaves and it was almost 2 fold differences between values of lowest and highest accumulation. The variation in amount of Ca was 38 fold higher, A. spinosus from the minimum amount (A. blitum). Fe content in dry leaves was maximum in A. viridis (15mg per 100g of dry wt) followed by A. spinosus (13.28mg), A. tricolor (10mg) and A. blitum (9mg). Wild species had more amount of Fe than cultivated species. The results of this study indicate a nutritive potential for the Amaranthus leaves, therefore, domestication of this plant is suggested along with assessment of its chemical and nutritional properties. INTRODUCTION: Amaranth is an extremely interesting crop, which has been grown by the people of Central and Southern America until the 16 century. In the 1970’s amaranth again attracted great attention as a food and fodder crop. Many investigators appreciated it as a valuable source of essential amino acids, whose deficit cannot be compensated by traditional agricultural crops. In lysine content, amaranth exceeds 2 times that of wheat and three times that of maize. The nutritive value of amaranth proteins forms 75, compared with that of maize wheat and barley forming 44, 57 and 62 correspondingly. For comparison the nutritive value of cow milk forms 72 on the nutritionists’ scale of protein quality 1 . The genus Amaranthus has received considerable attention in many countries because of the high nutritional value of some species that are important sources of food, either as vegetable or grain. The leaves contain 17.5 to 38.3% dry matter as protein of which 5% is lysine . Vitamin A and C are also present in significant levels. Compared to spinach, Amaranthus contains three times more vitamin C, calcium and niacin. Compared to lettuce, Amaranthus contains 18 times more vitamin A, 13 times more vitamin C, 20 times more calcium and 7 times more iron . A study by Allemann et al. 4 showed that amaranth has the potential to be a valuable source of nutrition in areas in Africa with hot, dry climates. The crop can grow on marginal lands and when it gets well established it can