Content of fat, vitamins and minerals in quinoa ( Chenopodium quinoa, Willd) seeds

Abstract

The seed of an important food crop, indigenous to the Andean region of Latin America, called quinoa ( Chenopdium quinoa, Willd) is a good source of thiamin ( 0·4 mg 100 g ), folic acid ( 78·1 mg 100 g ), and vitamin C ( 16·4 mg 100 g ). The seeds contain twice as much γ-tocopherol ( 5·3 mg 100 g ) as α-tocopherol ( 2·6 mg 100 g ) and larger amounts of calcium (874 mg/kg), phosphorus (5·3 g/kg), magnesium ( 2·6 mg 100 g ), iron (81 mg/kg), zinc (36 mg/kg), potassium (12 g/kg), and copper (10 mg/kg) than most of the common cereal grains. The amounts of mercury, lead, and cadmium found in these samples were low in relation to the values of tolerable intake for these elements. All values are expressed on a dry-weight basis. The fat content of raw quinoa seeds was 9·7% on a dry-weight basis with high amounts of oleic acid (24·8%) and linoleic acid (52·3%). The level of linolenic acid was 3·9%. The process of removing saponins from the seeds reduces the vitamin and mineral contents to some extent. The loss is significant ( p < 0·001) in the case of potassium, and considerable also in the case of iron and manganese ( p < 0·01).