Nutritional Composition and Bioactive Components in Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) Greens: A Review

Abstract

Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) is a nutrient-rich grain native to South America and eaten worldwide as a healthy food, sometimes even referred to as a ”superfood”. Like quinoa grains, quinoa greens (green leaves, sprouts, and microgreens) are also rich in nutrients and have health promoting properties such as being antimicrobial, anticancer, antidiabetic, antioxidant, antiobesity, and cardio-beneficial. Quinoa greens are gluten-free and provide an excellent source of protein, amino acids, essential minerals, and omega-3 fatty acids. Quinoa greens represent a promising value-added vegetable that could resolve malnutrition problems and contribute to food and nutritional security. The greens can be grown year-round (in the field, high tunnel, and greenhouse) and have short growth durations. In addition, quinoa is salt-, drought-, and cold-tolerant and requires little fertilizer and water to grow. Nevertheless, consumption of quinoa greens as leafy vegetables is uncommon. To date, only a few researchers have investigated the nutritional properties, phytochemical composition, and human health benefits of quinoa greens. We undertook a comprehensive review of the literature on quinoa greens to explore their nutritional and functional significance to human health and to bring awareness to their use in human diets.

Forms of application of silicon in quinoa and benefits involved in the association between productivity with grain biofortification

“…We evidenced that the combined application of Si(F + R) was associated with high content of phenolic compounds in leaves, in comparison to the treatments foliar application [Si(F)] and no Si application [Si(0)]. This information is relevant, since it was indicated that quinoa leaves can also be consumed as cooked vegetables and as a salad, increasing its interest as a functional food 24 . An increased production of phenolic compounds due to Si application has been reported in cucumber 25 and barley crops 19 .…”

Bioactive and pharmacological characterization of Chenopodium quinoa, Sorghum bicolor and Linum usitassimum: A review

“…It is widely grown in Latin America, especially in South America, where it originated 5000 years ago near the current Peruvian-Bolivian border near Lake Titicaca (Estrella et al, 2018). Quinoa has a protein content of 9.1 to 15.7 %, carbohydrate content of 48.5 to 69.8%, fat content of 4.0 to7.6% and mineral content of 2.0 to 7.7% (Pathan et al, 2022).Quinoa has a rich bioactive profile, and it includes bioactive compounds like flavonoids (quercetin and kaempferol), phenolic acids (Ferulic, caffeic and p-coumaric), saponins, phytosterol (β-sitosterol, brassicasterol, campesterol, and stigmasterol), betalains (Betacyanins and Betaxan-thins), stilbenoids and tannins (Gallotannins, Ellagitannins, proanthocyanidins) (Hernández-Ledesma, 2019). These bioactive compounds have shown to exert biological activities such as anti-oxidant effect, Immunomodulatory effect, cardiovascular effect, anti-diabetic effect, antiobesity effect, neuroprotective effect and anti -hypertensive effect (Ng and Wang, 2021).…”

Production of Protein Hydrolysate from Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.): Economic and Experimental Evaluation of Two Pretreatments Using Supercritical Fluids’ Extraction and Conventional Solvent Extraction

“…Additionally, based on information on the presentation of exported products, published by Peru Trade Now (PROMPERU, 2020), round 91% in FOB value exported is in the form of grain, 3.6% in flakes, and 2.2% in flour [ 7 ]. Worldwide, quinoa cultivation has increased from 8 countries in 1980 to 100 by 2021 [ 8 ]. In this sense, the functional food market is constantly growing at a global level, which was estimated at US$ 162 billion in 2018 and was projected to reach US$ 280 billion by 2025, with an annual growth rate of around 8% [ 9 ].…”