PARTE UTILIZADA=Used part: Hojas y semillas. 

ACCIÓN FARMACOLÓGICA= Pharmacological action: Diurético, digestivo y antiblenorrágica. 

COMPOSICIÓN QUÍMICA= Chemical composition: An account is given of some considerations concerning the chemical recognition and evaluation by biological methods of the quality of the flour obtained from Amaranthus quitensis seeds, submitted to grinding and sifting. The protein content of the flour (21.70g/100g) can be considered as very important, as well as that of the available lysine (5.20g/16gN). The calcium content was also remarkable (500mg/100g), and the starch ratio reached 45.00g/100g. The amount of nitrates found was 20.00mg/100g, which is an acceptable limit. The research for organic nitro compounds was negative. As for the biologic quality of the protein, the experiments revealed that it has quite an acceptable availability, as demonstrated by the following values: NPU = 42.50 +/- 6.10, D = 68.50 +/- 5.30, VB = 62, NPR = 2.10 +/- 1.80 and RNPR = 42. 

ZONA GEOGRÁFICA= Geografical zone: Argentina. 

DIVERSIDAD GENÉTICA Y MEJORAMIENTO DE PLANTAS MEDICINALES= Medicinal plants and improvement of medicinal herbs:

The most economically important group of species in the genus Amaranthus is the A. hybridus species complex, including three cultivated grain amaranths, A. cruentus, A. caudatus, and A. hypochondriacus, and their putative wild progenitors, A. hybridus, A. quitensis, and A. powellii. Taxonomic confusion exists among these closely related taxa. Internal transcribed spacer (ITS) of nuclear ribosomal DNA, amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP), and double-primer fluorescent intersimple sequence repeat (ISSR) were employed to reexamine the taxonomic status and phylogenetic relationships of grain amaranths and their wild relatives. Low ITS divergence in these taxa resulted in poorly resolved phylogeny. However, extensive polymorphisms exist at AFLP and ISSR loci both within and among species. In phylogenetic trees based on either AFLP or ISSR or the combined data sets, nearly all intraspecific accessions can be placed in their corresponding species clades, indicating that these taxa are well-sepd. species. The AFLP trees share many features in common with the ISSR trees, both showing a close relationship between A. caudatus and A. quitensis, placing A. hybridus in the same clade as all grain amaranths, and indicating that A. powellii is the most divergent taxon in the A. hybridus species complex. This study has demonstrated that both AFLP and double-primer fluorescent ISSR have a great potential for generating a large no. of informative characters for phylogenetic anal. of closely related species, esp. when ITS diversity is insufficient. (c) 2001 Academic Press. 

ÚLTIMOS AVANCES EN LA QUÍMICA Y ACTIVIDADES BACTERIOLÓGICAS EN LAS PLANTAS MEDICINALES= Medicinal plants, last advances on chemistry and bacteria activities on the medicinal herbs

1) Amaranthus grain of 104 genotypes from 30 species was investigated for oil and squalene contents and fatty acid profiles.  The overall av. oil content in Amaranthus grain was 5.0%, ranging from 1.9 to 8.7%.  Squalene concn. in extd. oils ranged from trace to 7.3%, with an av. concn. of 4.2%.  The av. contents of three major fatty acids in Amaranthus grain were 22.2, 29.1, and 44.6% for palmitic, oleic, and linoleic, resp.  The av. fat content in dried mature leaves of 45 Amaranthus genotypes was 1.63%, ranging from 1.08 to 2.18%.  The squalene concn. in leaf lipid exts. averaged 0.26%, ranging from trace to 0.77%, which is much lower than that from seeds.  The major fatty acids of leaf exts. were linolenic, linoleic, and palmitic.  Linolenic ranged from 56.5 to 62.0% of total fatty acids; linoleic, from 15.5 to 24.7%; and palmitic acid, from 13.5 to 15.5%.  As for the fatty acid compns. at different growth stages, fatty acid content in leaf lipid was lower in mature leaves than in young leaves.  The satd./unsatd. ratio decreased when the leaf grew to maturity.  Principal component anal. (PCA) was carried out on compositional characteristics of grain.  The first two components accounted for 70% of the total variance (38.3 and 21.7%, resp.).  There was a pos. correlation between oil content and squalene yield, and a neg. correlations were found between linoleic and either of the other two major fatty acids, palmitic and oleic.  The taxonomic relationship among the species was also elucidated by PCA.

2) The foliage of 62 specimens of Amaranthus belonging to 10 species of grain type and four of vegetable type were analyzed for vitamin C content.  The overall range of vitamin C was from 69 (A. cruentus) to 288 mg/100 g (A. hypochondriacus) in the grain type and 62 (A. tricolor, Amar-peet) to 209 mg/100 g (A. tricolor, AV-101) in the vegetable type (fresh wt.).  Variation of vitamin C with leaf position (age) was also studied.  While the oil content in 110 lines of A. hypochondriacus varied from 4.4 to 13.2%, most of the specimens had promising oil compn. with regard to unsatd. fatty acids.

3) The quality of the flour obtained from A. quitensis seeds, submitted to grinding and sifting, was studied.  The protein content of the flour (21.70 g/100 g) can be considered as very important, as well as that of the available lysine (5.20 g/16g N).  The calcium content was also remarkable (500 mg/100 g), and the starch ratio reached 45.00 g/100 g.  The amt. of nitrates found was 20.00 mg/100 g, which is an acceptable limit.  No org. nitrogen compds. were found.  Protein availability was acceptable, as demonstrated by the following values: NPU = 42.50, D = 68.50, VB = 62, NPR = 2.10 and RNPR = 42.

Summary
Although Amaranthus quitensis (Amaranthaceae) is widely considered an invasive weed, the high content of proteins in the seeds and leaves has provided further importance to this species. The presence of essential amino acids such as lysine has made this plant of interest as a nutritional complement in cases of malnutrition. Furthermore, it is interesting to point out that the high content of iron and calcium in the grains could be accounted for in the treatment of certain ailments such as anemia and osteopenia.

1) ALONSO, Jorge ; DESMARCHELIER, Cristian. Plantas medicinales autóctonas de la Argentina : bases científicas para su aplicación en atención primaria de la salud. Buenos Aires : L.O.L.A, 2005, p.635.

2) LUQUEZ DE MUCCIARELLI, S.I.; LUCAS DE ARELLANO, M.A.; CID, J.A.; GARCIA DE LUQUEZ, N.A.; FERNANDEZ, S. Composición química y valor nutritivo de la proteína de Amaranthus quintensis. Archivos Latinoamericanos de Nutricion.1990, Vol.40, nº1, p.69-74.

3) XU, Fangxiu; SUN, Mei. Comparative Analysis of Phylogenetic Relationships of Grain Amaranths and Their Wild Relatives ( Amaranthus ; Amaranthaceae) Using Internal Transcribed Spacer, Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism, and Double-Primer Fluorescent Intersimple Sequence Repeat Markers. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 2001, Vol.21, nº3, p.372-387.

4) HE, Han-Ping; CORKE, Harold.  Oil and squalene in Amaranthus grain and leaf.  Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 2003, Vol.51, nº27, p.7913-7920.

5) PRAKASH, Dhan; JOSHI, B. D.; PAL, M. Vitamin C in leaves and seed oil composition of the Amaranthus species. International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition. 1995, Vol.46, nº1, p.47-51.      

6) LUQUEZ DE MUCCIARELLI, S.I.; LUCAS DE ARELLANO, M.A.; CID, J.A.; GARCIA DE LUQUEZ, N.A.; FERNANDEZ, S. Chemical composition and nutritive value of the protein of Amaranthus quitensis.    Archivos Latinoamericanos de Nutricion. 1990, Vol.40, nº1, p.69-74.

7) Plantas medicinales autóctonas de la Argentina. Bases científicas para su aplicación en atención primaria de la salud / Jorge Alonso y Cristian Jorge Desmarchelier. - 1a ed. - Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires: Corpus Libros Médicos y Científicos, 2015.