Fatty acid compositions of the seed oils from eighteen varieties of amaranthus species have been determined after room temperature transesterification. Consistent with earlier studies, wide variations in the fatty acid composition are reported, and appear to be agronomically related. All varieties show significant levels (2-5%) of squalene and a combined linoleic acid and oleic acid occurrence of between 70-80%. This study represents the first reported fatty acid composition of grain amaranthus cultivated in West Africa.

Analysis of sterols of seed oils from Vernonia galamensis, Amaranthus cruentus, A caudatus, A hybridus and A hypochondriacus, the last four being exotic breeds planted in the humid tropics of Africa, is presented in this report. Identifiable sterols in all the seed oil samples include campesterol, stigmasterol, /3-sitosterol, A5-avenasterol and A'-avenasterol except for Vernonia galamensis where cholesterol was detected (63.61 mg per 100 g oil).Key words: Sterols of seed oils, amaranth sterol, Vernonia galamensis. galamensis seed oil. J Amer Oil Chem Soc 66 983-985. AOAC 1984 Oficial Methods of Analysis (16th edn). Association of Official Analytical Chemists, Washington, DC. Ayorinde FO, Clifton J, Afolabi O A , Shepard R L 1988a Rapid transesterification and mass spectrometric approach to seed oil analysis. J Amer Oil Chem Soc 65 942-947. Ayorinde F O , Osman G, Shepard R L , Powers F T 19881, Synthesis of azelaic acid and suberic acid from Vernonia galamensis seed oil. J Amer Oil Chem SOC 65 1774-1777. Ayorinde F 0, Ologunde M 0, Nana E Y, Ijewere P A, Afolabi 0 A, Oke 0 L, Shepard R L 1989 Determination of fatty acid composition of Amaranthus species by room temperature transesterification. J Amer Oil Chem Soc 66 Becker R, Wheeler E L, Lorenz K, Stafford A E, Grosjean 0 K, Betschart A A, Saunders R M 1981 A compositional study of amaranth grain. J Food Sci 46 1 175-1 180.

The defatted meal ofVernonia galamensis is rich in crude protein (43.76±0.17%) with methionine as the first limiting amino acid and lysine the second when calculated based on the FAO Provisional Scoring Pattern. The carbohydrate fraction (6.575) is rich in sucrose (2.36%), fructose (1.90%) and glucose (0.77%). Levels of the macrominerals, calcium (11.08 mg/g), potassium (14.18 mg/g) and magnesium (6.90 mg/g) not only meet nutritional requirements but are also higher than in contemporary oilseeds. The level of phosphorus is high (644 mg/g), perhaps accounting for the fairly high phytate (25.42±0.06 mg/g) content, although this value is slightly less than for American Association of Cereal Chemists (AACC) standard wheat bran (31.42±0.03 mg/g). Residual oil content of defatted meal was found to be approximately 0.5%, but could be higher depending on the method of extraction. Lipid analysis of the residual oils shows vernolic acid (76.06±1.80%) as the major component of the saponifiables (97.74±0.20%). C18∶2 (11.64±0.69%), C16∶0 (2.22±0.12%), C18∶0 (2.63±0.11%), C18∶1 (6.58±0.19%), and C20∶0 (trace) were all identified. Sterols constitute the major (94.65±0.08%) component of the unsaponifiables (2.06±0.16%) with β‐sitosterol (32%) and Δ5‐avenasterol (30%) being the major constituents. Cholesterol was fairly low (4.6%). Phytochemical screening for other possible toxicants did not reveal significant levels of antinutritional components.

In this study, fortified and unfortified grain amaranth seed flour diets and a FeSO4-fortified casein diet (used as a control) were evaluated for their iron (Fe) bioavailability. NaFeEDTA, ferrous fumarate, and FeSO4-fortified grain amaranth were fed to growing Sprague-Dawley weaning male rats. Iron intake, hemoglobin iron (HbFe) gain, Fe availability, total iron binding capacity (TIBC), serum iron, non-haem liver iron and red bloodcell volume (RBV) were determined, and the values were compared with those of the FeSO4-fortified casein diet control. Ferrous fumarate fortified diets gave consistently high values for all these parameters, compared with consistently low values for the amaranth diet without iron fortification. Relative biological values (RBVs) were 0.40, 1.55, 1.75, 1.67 and 1.00 for animals fed on an unfortified amaranth diet, and diets fortified with NaFeEDTA, ferrous fumarate, FeSO4 and casein fortified with FeSO4, respectively. Using FeSO4-fortified casein as control, ferrous fumarate gave a superior RBVs (1.75 vs. 1.00). The RBVs, of the unfortified cereal diets were 40% that of the control, perhaps suggesting low iron absorption from the amaranth cereal. Based on the results of this study, amaranth cereal can be considered an idea food vehicle for iron fortification. The iron fortification of choice is ferrous fumarate.

In this study, fortified and unfortified grain amaranth seed flour and FeS04 fortified casein diet as control were evaluated for their iron bioavailability. NaFeEDTA, ferrous fumarate, and FeS0,-fortified grain amaranth were fed to Sprague Dawley weanling male rats. Iron intake, Hb Fe gain, Fe availability and binding capacity, serum iron, non-haem liver iron and relative biological value (RBV) were determined and values compared with FeS0,-fortified casein control; all were improved greatly by fortification.Relative biological values (RBV) were 0.40, 1.55, 1.75, 1.67 and 1.00 for animals receiving unfortified amaranth diet, those fed diet fortified with NaFeEDTA, ferrous fumarate, FeS04 and casein fortified with FeS04 respectively. RBV of the unfortified cereal was 40% of control suggesting perhaps low iron absorption from the amaranth cereal.Based on the results of this study, amaranth cereal is ideal as a food vehicle for iron fortification. The iron fortificant of choice is ferrous fumarate.