Food and Medicinal Uses of Ancestral Andean Grains in the Districts of Quinua and Acos Vinchos (Ayacucho-Peru)

Abstract

Andean grains are key elements in the construction of family production systems. These seeds speak of the history of a people, their customs and ancestral knowledge. The general objective of the work was to evaluate the food use, crop management and traditional knowledge about the medicinal use of ancestral Andean grains among the inhabitants of the districts of Quinua and Acos Vinchos (Ayacucho-Peru). Basic descriptive research, carried out by means of convenience sampling, the sample size determined by the Law of Diminishing Returns, after signing an informed consent form. Semi-structured individual interviews were applied to 96 informants. A total of 96.9% of the informants reported that they obtained quinoa grain from their own crops, and 24.0% obtained achita grain that they sowed directly on their land; no cañihua was cultivated. A total of 58.3% use quinoa and achita in their diet. The variability of the food use of ancestral grains, specifically quinoa and achita, constitute a natural source of vegetable protein of high nutritional value, which represents one of the main foods of the inhabitants of Quinua and Acos Vinchos. Traditional medicine derived from the ancestral knowledge of Andean grains is barely preserved, but this is not the case for other medicinal plants in the area, as this knowledge is still preserved.

Decolonized Human, Gender, and Environmental: HUGE Security and Peace

“…Living well represents a complementary relation between Mother Earth, the agricultural cycles, and the cosmic cycles, where the cosmos has historically its own course enabling to produce in just time the food crops in complex environmental conditions [58]. The history of Earth and humans with periods of rising and fall, including patriarchal violence [59] had phases of activities and other times of moderation are reflected in working periods and relaxation.…”

Diversity of quinoa genetic resources for sustainable production: A survey on nutritive characteristics as influenced by environmental conditions

“…was selected as one of the crops that will contribute to food security in the twentifirst century, because of its high resilience to extreme environmental conditions and its qualities as a functional food (Bvenura and Kambizi, 2022;Singh et al, 2022) and a potentially strategic crop that plays a vital role in food security and sovereignty (Rojas et al, 2015). In addition, quinoa has gained importance in international consumer markets in the last decade, which provides economic opportunities for Andean producers (Anaya et al, 2022). On the other hand, quinoa could be used for crop diversification in Europe and other parts of the world, outside of its genetic origin, as an alternative for marginal agricultural land (Jacobsen, 2017).…”