It’s regarded as richer than wheat and has a history that goes back 5,000 years. Meet quinoa
Quinoa or quinua is native to the Andes Mountains of Bolivia, Chile, and Peru. This crop (pronounced keen-wah), has been called 41 vegetable caviar or Inca rice, and has been eaten continuously for 5,000 years by people who live on the mountain plateaus and in the valleys of Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Chile. Quinua means “mother grain” in the Inca language.
This crop was a staple food of the Inca people and remains an important food crop for their descendants, the Quechua and Aymara peoples who live in rural regions.
The Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) has officially declared that the year 2013 be recognised as ‘The International Year of the Quinoa.’
Proposed by the government of Bolivia and receiving strong support from many Central and South American countries, quinoa has now been singled out by the FAO as a food with, “high nutritive value.”
Researchers have recently taken a close look at certain antioxidant phytonutrients in quinoa, and two flavonoid — quercetin and kaempferol — are now known to be provided by quinoa in especially concentrated amounts. In fact, the concentration of these two flavonoids in quinoa can sometimes be greater than their concentration in high-flavonoid berries like cranberry or lingonberry.
In comparison to cereal grasses like wheat, quinoa is higher in fat content and can provide valuable amounts of heart-healthy fats like monounsaturated fat (in the form of oleic acid). Quinoa can also provide small amounts of the omega-3 fatty acid, alpha-linolenic acid (AlA).
Given this higher fat content, researchers initially assumed that quinoa would be more susceptible to oxidation and resulting nutrient damage. However, recent studies have shown that quinoa does not get oxidised.
The most striking health benefit provided by quinoa is its overall nutrient richness. When the nutrient composition of this food is analysed in depth, the results are unusual and striking.
While quinoa can be eaten in the same way as a grain, or ground into flour like is so commonly done with grains.
Another key mineral is calcium which is especially concentrated in quinoa in comparison to grains. On an ounce-for-ounce basis, quinoa provides over twice the amount of calcium as is found in whole wheat.
It is used to make flour, soup, breakfast cereal, and alcohol.
Most quinoa sold in the United States has been sold as whole grain that is cooked separately as rice or in combination dishes such as pilaf.
Quinoa flour works well as a starch extender when combined with wheat flour or grain, or corn meal, in making biscuits, bread and processed food.
Quinoa grain has lower sodium content and is higher in calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, iron, copper, manganese, and zinc than wheat, barley or corn.