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Research: TANG and COLLEAGUES
Listed in Issue 258
Abstract
TANG and COLLEAGUES, 1. Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Safety, Ministry of Education of China, Tianjin University of Science and Technology , Tianjin 300457, People's Republic of China; 2. Guelph Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada , 93 Stone Road West, Guelph, Ontario N1G 5C9, Canada; 3. Department of Food Science, University of Guelph , 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1, Canada; 4. State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Nanchang University , Nanchang, Jiangxi 330047, People's Republic of China; 5. Katan Kitchens , 62 Grist Mill Drive, Georgetown, Ontario L7G 6C1, Canada assessed the fatty acid, carotenoid, and tocopherol compositions of amaranth and quinoa seeds grown in Ontario and their contribution to nutritional quality
Background
Various fatty acids, tocopherols, carotenoids, and their respective antioxidant contributions in 7 amaranth seed and 11 quinoa seed samples along with a new evaluation method are reported.
Methodology
The lipid yield was 6.98-7.22% in amaranth seeds and 6.03-6.74% in quinoa seeds, with unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs) being the predominant fatty acids, 71.58-72.44% in amaranth seeds and 81.44-84.49% in quinoa seeds, respectively.
Results
Carotenoids, mainly lutein and zeaxanthin, are confirmed for the first time in amaranth seeds, while β-carotene is reported first in quinoa seeds. The predominant tocopherols in amaranth seeds are δ- and α-tocopherol, whereas γ- and α-tocopherol are the primary tocopherols in quinoa seeds. UFAs, carotenoids, and tocopherols showed good correlation with antioxidant activity. All of the amaranth seeds demonstrated lower overall lipophilic quality than quinoa seeds, with the AS1 and QS10 cultivars providing the highest scores for amaranth and quinoa seeds, respectively.
Conclusion
Results from this study will contribute to developing quinoa seeds and related functional foods with increased benefits.
References
Tang Y1,2, Li X1, Chen PX2,3, Zhang B2,4, Liu R2, Hernandez M2, Draves J5, Marcone MF3, Tsao R2. Assessing the Fatty Acid, Carotenoid, and Tocopherol Compositions of Amaranth and Quinoa Seeds Grown in Ontario and Their Overall Contribution to Nutritional Quality. J Agric Food Chem. 64(5):1103-10. doi: 10.1021/acs.jafc.5b05414. Epub 2016 Jan 27. 10 Feb 2016.