Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.): A Nutritional Healthy Grain

Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.), which is considered a pseudo-cereal or pseudo-grain, it is highly nutritious due to its outstanding protein quality and wide range of minerals and vitamins. It has been recognized as a complete food due to its protein quality. It has remarkable nutritional properties; not only from its protein content (15%) but also from its great amino acid balance. The quinoa grain protein is rich in amino acids like lysine and methionine that are de?cient in cereal proteins. The grain is used to make ?our, soup, breakfast, cereal and alcohol, while the ?our is utilized in making biscuits, bread and processed food. Quinoa starch having small grains and high viscosity can be exploited for various industrial applications. It is also been found to contain minor compounds like phytosterols and flavonoids with possible nutraceutical benefits. Quinoa starch has some functional (technological) properties like solubility, good water-holding capacity, gelation, emulsifying, and foaming that allow diversified uses. Besides, it has been considered an oil crop, with an interesting proportion of omega-6 and notable vitamin-E content. Quinoa starch has physico-chemical properties (such as viscosity, freeze stability) which give it functional properties with novel uses. Quinoa has a high nutritional value and has recently been used as a novel functional food because of all these properties. Quinoa’s ability to produce high-protein grains under ecologically extreme conditions makes it important for the diversi?cation of future agricultural systems, especially in high-altitude area of the Himalayas and North Indian Plains. The healthy lifestyle and appropriate nutrition are stressed nowadays. New foodstuffs are still investigated with the aim to improve the diet and conduce to a better health state of the population. Quinoa (pseudo-cereals) is convenient for this purpose for their high nutritious and dietary quality meets the demands of the food industry and consumers.