Luca Rastrelli

Promoting the Use of Andean Crops: Nutritional Aspects and Therapeutic Benefits Luca Rastrelli

Andean region is known to be the botanical origin of common vegetable species as potato, peanut and tomato; however, less well- known species such as quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) and cañihua (Chenopodium pallidicaule), have possessed an important role in the nutrition and wellbeing of local populations during thousand of years. Quinoa and cañihua are crops with a highly significative content of protein. Moreover, its levels of carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins, polyphenols and other compounds could contribute with its preventive and therapeutic potentials. In spite of their multiple benefits, few studies have been developed to improve the characterization and cultivation aspects related with the obtainment of these plants. This book, therefore, provides a wide and newly revised description about major aspects of quinoa and cañihua, including the botanical, chemical, nutritional and therapeutic characteristics; looking to promote their utilization as functional foods, and contributing in the re-discovery and dissemination of knowledge from these Andean crops.