Quality protein of Argentinean Northwest quinoa crops: Study based on amino acids composition

Abstract

Quínoa, (Chenopodium quínoa W) is a native cultivar of the Andean region of South America that has played an important role in the diet and culture of its pre‐Hispanic inhabitants and has a high nutritious value. In contrast to cereal proteins, the protein of quinoa contains a relatively high amount of lysine and sulfur amino acids and then a higher quality protein. No data on the amino acids composition of argentinean varieties is known.Aimto study the quality protein of ten different crops from quinoa of the Argentinean Northwest (NOA) based on the amino acids composition.Material and MethodsAmino acids composition was determined by HPLC (AOAC.994.12). It was compared to the reference protein for pre‐school (FNB/IOM, 2002) to calculated the chemical score (CS).ResultsCS ranged from 75.5 to 84.1 being tryptophan the limiting essential amino acid; only one variety had CS 97.6 limiting isoleucine.ConclusionThe results indicate that quinoa seeds from NOA have a high quality protein. This fact suggest it would be used as an alternative protein source for the complementation of cereals protein usually deficient in lysine, in order to improve human diet.Supported by UBACyT B098 and ANPCYT (PICT 2005 20‐23382)