Free quinoa diet pdf
However, in general it is undemanding and altitude-hardy. album is much more resistant. Some cultivars can withstand lower temperatures without damage. The leaves are eaten as a leaf vegetable, much like amaranth, but commercial availability of quinoa greens is limited. It is grown as a grain crop primarily for its edible seeds. The woody central stem is branched or unbranched depending on the variety and may be green, red or purple. Due to the short growing season, North American cultivation requires short-maturity varieties, typically of Bolivian origin. When cooked, the nutrient composition is comparable to common cereals, supplying a moderate amount of dietary fiber and minerals. Raw (uncooked) quinoa is 13% water, 64% carbohydrates, 14% protein and 6% fat (top nutrient table). Light frosts normally do not affect the plants at any stage of development, except during flowering. The seeds are in general cooked in the same way as rice and can be used in a wide range of dishes.
Mid-summer frosts during flowering, often occurring in the Andes, lead to sterilization of the pollen. Landscape with Chenopodium quinoa near Cachilaya, Lake Titicaca, Bolivia. Harvest needs to be precisely timed to avoid high seed losses from shattering, and different panicles on the same plant mature at different times. In eastern North America, it is susceptible to a leaf miner that may reduce crop success and which also affects the common weed and close relative Chenopodium album, but C. The flowering panicles arise from the top of the plant or from leaf axils along the stem. Quinoa is closely related to species such as beetroots and spinach and to amaranth, another pseudocereal which it closely resembles. It has broad, generally pubescent, powdery, smooth (rarely) to lobed leaves normally arranged alternately. Quinoa is gluten -free and considered easy to digest. Quinoa grain is usually harvested by hand and rarely by machine, because the extreme variability of the maturity period of most Quinoa cultivars complicates mechanization. In their natural state, the seeds have a coating of bitter-tasting saponins, making them unpalatable. It is a pseudocereal, rather than a true cereal, as it is not a grass. After harvest, the seeds are processed to remove the coating containing the bitter-tasting saponins.
