Chenopodium Quinoa Production

Abstract

Chenopodium quinoa is a highly proteinaceous crop native to the Andean region. C. quinoa is highly underutilized considering its high seed protein and stress tolerance. Quinoa which was once a neglected crop has now become a major export product of the Andean countries. This experiment was conducted on different species of Chenopodium to determine its total antioxidant content and phenolics. Enzyme assays of antioxidant enzymes- catalase and ascorbate peroxidase was also performed using water and methanolic extracts.

Keywords: Chenopodium quinoa, antioxidant enzymes, catalase, ascorbate peroxidase, phenolics

1. Introduction

The genus Chenopodium, belonging to family Amaranthaceae consists of almost 250 species of perennial or

Quinoa can suitably grow in different stress conditions such as drought, acidity, high soil salinity and frost. (Vacher, 1998; Jensen et al., 2000; Bhargava et al.,2003a, 2006a; Jacobsen et al., 2003).

2. Importance of Chenopodium in India

The popularity of quinoa is growing worldwide but in India it is still considered to be an underutilized crop. The agricultural land in India is very prone to degradation due to intense human activity. There are concerns about decline in the fertility of soil, increase in soil salinity and decrease in the depth of the underground water table. (Joshi and Tyagi, 1994; Aggarwal et al.,2004) most of the population in India does not have access to a balanced diet containing adequate amounts of protein, wheat and rice being the principal food crops.

Due to the increasing population, there is a need for sustainable agriculture. Cultivation of highly nutritive crops that require minimal input and can grow in adverse environmental conditions is necessary. Quinoa can tackle this problem as it has the ability to produce seeds with high protein content even in extreme environmental condition, thus, making it a very important and promising crop for India.

3. Economic

Medicinal value

Studies have been conducted to determine the medicinal properties of quinoa. It is used as an anti-inflammatory agent and analgesic. It is also used as a urinary tract disinfectant and to treat internal haemorrhage. It can also be used as an insect repellant. (Mujica, 1994)

It contains flavonoids and polyphenols because of which its used to prevent coronary heart disease, artherosclerosis, cancer, diabetes and alzheimer’s disease.

6. Antioxidant Enzymes

Reactive antioxidant species (ROS) regulate various cellular processes in both plants and animals but in excessive amounts can damage biomolecules and cause cell death. Thus, production of ROS and its removal need to be regulated. For this purpose plants have various antioxidant enzymes. These antioxidant enzymes have an important role in the reduction of oxidative stress caused by reactive oxygen species. Quinoa seeds have a very high antioxidant enzyme content which makes it very tolerant to stress conditions like drought, soil salinity, etc. Antioxidant enzymes in quinoa are Catalase, Ascorbate peroxidase and Superoxide dismutase. Enzymes catalase and ascorbate peroxidase convert H2O2 to water and oxygen. Superoxide dismutase converts toxic superoxide to molecular oxygen (Pitzschke et. al., 2015).Quinoa shows higher ascorbate peroxidase activity as compared to