Amaranth grain
Amaranth has been cultivated as a
grain for 8,000 years, dating back to the Maya culture
of South and Central America. The yield of grain amaranth
is comparable to rice or maize. It was a staple food
of the Aztecs, and was used as an integral part of
Aztec religious ceremonies. Its cultivation was banned
by the conquistadores in 1516. Because the plant has
continued to grow as a weed since that time, its genetic
base has been largely maintained. Research on grain
amaranth began in the US in the 1970s. By the end
of the 1970s, a few thousand acres were being cultivated.
Much of the grain currently grown is sold in health
food shops.
Amaranth grain can also be used to
extract amaranth oil - a particularly valued pressed
seed oil with many commercial uses.
Amaranth grain is a crop of moderate
importance in the Himalaya. It was one of the staple
foodstuffs of the Incas, and it is known as kiwicha
in the Andes today. It was also used by the ancient
Aztecs, who called it huautli, and other Amerindian
peoples in Mexico to prepare ritual drinks and foods.
To this day, amaranth grains are toasted much like
popcorn and mixed with honey or molasses to make a
treat called alegría (literally "joy"
in Mexican Spanish).
Amaranth was used in several Aztec
ceremonies, where images of their gods (notably Huitzilopochtli)
were made with amaranth mixed with honey. The images
were cut to be eaten by the people. This looked like
the Christian communion to the Catholic priests, so
the cultivation of the grain was forbidden for centuries.
Because of its importance as a symbol
of indigenous culture, and because it is very palatable,
easy to cook, and its protein particularly well suited
to human nutritional needs, interest in grain amaranth
(especially A. cruentis and A. hypochondriaca) was
revived in the 1970s. It was recovered in Mexico from
wild varieties and is now commercially cultivated.
It is a popular snack sold in Mexico City and other
parts of Mexico, sometimes mixed with chocolate or
puffed rice, and its use has spread to Europe and
North America. Besides protein, amaranth grain provides
a good source of dietary fiber and dietary minerals
such as iron, magnesium, phosphorus, copper, and especially
manganese. Read more about the amaranths here.
This
is a full report about grain amaranth.
See
these photos on how to process amaranth grain.
Image souces: upper
left, upper
right, lower
center.
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