Senior Design 04-05: Team 11

A Brief Summary of Amaranth Seed

 

Amaranth is a plant that looks much like soybeans early in its development. It is a broadleaf plant that can eventually grow to be anywhere from two to eight feet tall. Not much Amaranth is grown in the United States because of low demand for the seed and rather high yields to most farmers who grow amaranth. Amaranth is often most recognized for the bright colored head of seed that forms shortly before harvest.
Each head of seed is full of thousands of tiny seeds that can be saved for replanting or can be ground and used in food products. In the United States, the seed is the only part of the plant which is used; however, in an increasing number of third world countries, the leaves of the plant are also used for human and animal consumption.

Amaranth was an important food source to early American cultures, especially the Aztec Indians. Amaranth is rather tasteless but yet it has a high nutritional value. The seeds of the amaranth plant are 14 to 16 percent protein which is relatively high for most naturally grown food sources. Additionally, the seeds have an exceptionally well balanced amount of amino acids which is very uncommon in most grains. Amaranth can now be easily found in the health food section of most grocery stores. Amaranth has the potential to be used in more food items but its comparatively high price discourages most food preparers from including it in their products.