this is an extract from Jackie's Health & Diet Club Magazine Number Two
What is Amararanth?
Amaranth is a seed-bearing plant which comes in diverse forms, but in general it is a broad-leaved, purplish-green plant that grows as high as eight feet. The main stalk bears a single large seedhead that at maturity can exceed a foot in length and six inches in diameter, with bright purple, orange, red or gold flowers. Although the sixty species of genus Amaranthus are native to many parts of the world, most are weedy and only about a dozen are grown as crops. The cultivated species produce either a high leaf yield or a high grain yield. Amaranth seeds are tiny - about the size of a sand grain - but they occur in huge numbers, so that a single seedhead can weigh as much as one kilogram! Although the small size of Amaranth grain makes it awkward to work with, this drawback is offset by the crop's extraordinary nutritional value, along with its ability to tolerate drought and adapt readily to new environments.
Amaranth plants are a member of an elite group of photosynthetic super-performers which science call the C4 group. The C4 group includes some of the world's best know fast-growing crops. C4 plants utilise a photosynthetic process or 'pathway' that has super normal efficiency in converting soil and sunlight into complex carbohydrates and proteins, and aids them to display tolerance to adversity and stress, thus they exhibit enhanced environmental adaptation.
Before the recent resurgence of interest in the crop, grain amaranth was cultivated on a small scale by peasants in remote villages of Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, northern India and Nepal.
Ancient Amararanth
Amaranth has been in dormancy for nearly 500 years and is only recently making its way back into substantial consumption. Much of it's ancient history remains lost in the mists of time; an aura of mysticism lingers over the grain, and botanical confusion complicates early written records which mention the crop.
In India, the crop has been known since ancient times - in old Sanskrit records there are four names recorded for the grain.
In some Indian States it is called "Seed sent by God";
In China, the grain amaranth has been called "the Thousand-Ear Cereal";
In Mexico, its grains comprise the "alegria" ("happiness, joy") confection popularly sold on the street corners;
Spanish conquerors of the Andes called it "Inca Wheat";
In the North-East of Argentina, the crop is called "Quinua del Valle" ("Quinoa of the Valley"), a reference to a fact which has confused early records: to the untrained eye, amaranth and quinoa plants appear quite similar!
Amaranth was the sacred grain of the ancient Aztecs, who called it "the Grain of the Gods".
Amaranth was more than just a staple food to the Aztecs, it also played a symbolic role in Aztec religious ceremonies. Cortes, a Roman Catholic zealot, perceived this when he invaded South America in 1519 and ordered the destruction of amaranth. He burned all their amaranth fields, and threatened to cut off the hands of anyone who cultivated it. The grain eventually vanished from the Aztecs' diet, a significant nutritional loss for a population which was poor and undernourished.
The nutritional value of Amararanth
Amaranth's unique nutritional properties make it a valuable food resource for a hungry world. Firstly, it contains 16-18% protein, compared with 14% or less for wheat and other cereals. Secondly, amaranth protein comprises an excellent balance of essential amino acids (which the human body can not manufacture). In 1972, plant physiologist John Downton of the Australian National University discovered that amaranth protein contains an unusually high percentage of the amino acid lysine, which is present only at low levels in wheat, rice and corn (maize). Indeed, amaranth has nearly twice the lysine of wheat and three times that of maize. On the other hand, amaranth is low in leucine, but this amino acid is found in excess in most common cereal grains. Thus, when amaranth flour is mixed with wheat or corn flour for making bread or tortillas, the essential amino acids in one grain make up for those lacking in the other. The result is an almost "perfect" protein, comparable in nutritional quality to eggs, that meets virtually all the body's protein requirements. In addition, amaranth contains more dietary fibre than wheat, corn, rice or soyabeans.
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// -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- \\
// Nutritionists \\
|| Protein Value Score Chart ||
// Ideal Score: 100 \\
|| Amaranth ... ... ... ... ... ... 75 ||
// Cows Milk ... ... ... ... ... ... 72 \\
|| Soyabeans ... ... ... ... ... ... 68 ||
\\ Barley ... ... ... ... ... ... 62 //
|| Wheat ... ... ... ... ... ... 60 ||
// Peanuts ... ... ... ... ... ... 52 \\
|| Corn (Maize) ... ... ... ... ... ... 44 ||
\\ //
|| Source: "Amaranth, ||
\\ Modern Prospects for an Ancient Crop" //
|| National Research Council, 1984. ||
\\ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ //
\\. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .//
Allen Hooper's Story of Amararanth
In 1982 an elderly woman presented Dr. Allen Hopper of Oberlin, Kansas, with a problem his medical training had not covered. She desperately needed protein, but her health conditions ruled out red meat with its high fat and cholesterol levels, and dairy products, which she had trouble digesting. Hopper mentioned this patient and her predicament to his father-in-law, a botanist and farmer, who told him about amaranth - a recently rediscovered grain. Hopper was intrigued; and realised that if he found this ancient Grain of the Gods to be the answer for his patients with protein deficiencies, products made from amaranth would find a wide and receptive market.
Hooper and his wife Jeannie found that there was good news and bad news about amaranth. The good news was that it is indeed a wonder grain. The bad news was that at that time amaranth was struggling both as a food product and as a farm crop. The variety of experts the Hoopers contacted gave generally pessimistic reports on amaranth - even if they personally believed in it. At that time, Allen Hooper remembers, everyone was telling him that amaranth-based products have been tried, but people don't like high proteins and are not interested. "The market is just not there," they said.
But Hooper knew it was too good a product to let lie in the dirt... Six years on and a lot of hard work later they are still farming and producing amaranth. They are now mixing the flour with other cereals so that people can make there own breads, and they have been experimenting with other amaranth products. They find that amaranth tea can be very tasty, and they have done some testing on the potential for amaranth soda-pop - which is already selling in China! One of their products is now available in England: Aztec, a crunchy fruit-juice-sweetened corn and amaranth breakfast cereal, which I think is really great!
I thought I would tell you the Hooper story, as I feel that the six years that they have devoted to educating people about the grain in America is the same thing that I have been trying to do over here. So give the Grain of the Gods a go!
How to eat Amararanth
The seeds have a mild, nutty flavour and can be used directly in breakfast cereals and granolas or ground into whole-grain meal or white flour for baking. When heated, the grains pop, producing a light, crunchy product similar to miniature popcorn. They can be boiled, toasted and popped, flaked or ground into flour. They cook into delicious porridge or gruel by simply boiling in water. As a flour, amaranth provides baked goods with a desirable moisture and density. Amaranth combines well with other grains and can be used to create delicious and nutritious soups, pancakes, bread rolls, muffins, cookies, crackers and candy.
Amaranth differs from cereal crops in that its leaves can also be eaten as a green vegetable. The tender leaves of the young plant are high in Vitamins A and C, Riboflavin, and Folic acid. They make excellent salad greens and can be cooked like spinach in dishes such as amaranth quiche.
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