Abstract
Amaranth has two morphological types described as red and green morphs. Previous studies have extensively characterised red morph amaranth regarding both morphological and chemical properties including antioxidant activity, antioxidant phytochemical profile, mineral content and proximate composition. However, there is scarce information concerning green morph amaranth. Hence, the present study evaluated 12 green morph genotypes for proximate composition, antioxidant activity, antioxidant pigments, minerals, and phytochemicals. Green morph amaranth was found to contain abundant carbohydrates, dietary fiber and protein. We found notable levels of inorganic minerals including potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, manganese, copper and zinc. Antioxidant capacity quantified as free radical quenching capacity varied between 27 and 48 μg g−1 Trolox equivalents. We additionally quantified antioxidants, including total phenolics, total flavonoid equivalents and vitamin C, as well as the antioxidant pigments carotenoids, chlorophylls and betalains. These data indicated that four green morph genotypes could be considered as enriched in their antioxidant profiles. Green morph amaranth could be a potential source of nutritional components and antioxidant phytochemicals in the human diet providing opportunities to address mineral nutrient deficiencies and provide an antioxidant rich food
Highlights
Amaranth has two morphological types described as red and green morphs
Amaranth is abundant in several pigments, such as carotenoids, chlorophylls, amaranthine, anthocyanins, betalains, betaxanthins, and betacyanins[17,18] and natural antioxidant phytochemicals, such as vitamin C, betacarotene, flavonoids, and phenolic acids[19,20], that act as reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavengers in the human body[21,22]
We evaluated the red morph of amaranth in terms of its morphological characteristics and mineral, protein, dietary fiber, betacarotene, and ascorbic acid contents[5,6,7,8,9]
Summary
Amaranth has two morphological types described as red and green morphs. Previous studies have extensively characterised red morph amaranth regarding both morphological and chemical properties including antioxidant activity, antioxidant phytochemical profile, mineral content and proximate composition. To fill these gaps, we carried out this study with the following aims: (1) To evaluate the proximate and mineral compositions and the vitamin, phenolic, and flavonoid contents in 12 green morphs of amaranth genotypes. Green morph amaranth leaves exhibited clear variations in protein content.
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