I've had an interesting time lately looking up amaranth on the web,
but after learning a lot about amaranth, its history, and its role in
modern agriculture I have not found the answers to my specific
questions. My amaranth is a "weed" variety. It grows of it's own free
will every year. It is a beautiful tall red plant with the characteristic
seed head. It produces black seeds. I've definitely got the
impression that black seed is considered extremely undesirable but
can't find out why.
So my first question is are the black seeds inedible, unpalatable,
and/or just an undesirable colour because we are used to light
coloured grains?
My second question is, does amaranth require any preprocessing.
I'm thinking of preprocessing along the lines of quinoa needing to be
washed thouroughly? Or can it just be rinsed and cooked?
Hoping someone else has more experience with amaranth than me
and already has the elusive answers to these questions, or knows of
resources that might have the answers.
sph
Sandra P. Hoffman
ghidra@home.com
http://www.flora.org/sandra/
My organic primer states that the "vegetable type" amaranth has high
amounts of oxalic acid. This acid when taken w/ food ties up minerals,
including Ca, so as to be unavailable. Seeds and leaves are edible if
cooked...in milk... I think the milk grabs up (technical chemistry
here...)the oxalic acid ....If cooked in water the water should be
discarded. Rodale Press has TONS of info on this crop.....
bill/10
> I really do need to know more about why the black seeded varieties
> are held in such disfavour.
Maybe the black are higher in tannins than other var's( in the seeds)
leaves prolly ok
other bad stuff in seeds-trypsin inhibitor, cyanogenic factors,
betacyanins, various alkaloids, saponins, sesquiterpenes, and
polyphenols
(huh?)
bill/10,
who likes this book more all the time
thankyou Dr Rateaver
Lot's of places have tons of information on this crop, unfortunately
most of the information I have been able to find is history or geared
to commercial growers. According to a couple of the papers I was
reading, the oxalic acid levels in the leaves vary according to
stresses on the plants but how this works is not well understood. It
has been used as a vegetable crop for enough years though, that I
will probably go ahead and use it that way next year anyway.
I'm still looking for answers to my specific questions about black
seeded varieties and preprocessing.
Apparently, the traditional favourite way to prepare the seeds for
eating is to pop them like corn, and I've read that in some places
the popped amaranth was then mixed with molasses or honey for a
sweet treat. I'd really like to try this but would like to know if the
seeds have to be processed in any particular way before use. You
know, like barley gets dehulled, or quinoa gets the saponin rinsed
off of it.
I really do need to know more about why the black seeded varieties
are held in such disfavour. It is what I have, and it was an effort to
harvest them. I'd like to know for sure I can use them. If not I need
to buy seed and introduce edible seeded varieties to my garden.
sph
Sandra P. Hoffman
ghidra@home.com
http://www.flora.org/sandra/
