Abstract

The significance of human health and food security has increased with the advent of changing climate, rapid population expansion, the rise of metabolic abnormalities, and an ageing population. Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) member of family Amaranthacea being similar to that of grains, is stress-resistance pseudo cereal that has supplied Andean traditional societies with nourishment, medicine and nutrition for millennia. Quinoa seeds are a source of dietary fibres, carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins, poly-unsaturated fats, and health-promoting phytochemicals that includes phytosterols, saponins, phytoecdysteroids, betalains, glycine betaine and phenolics. Quinoa being a functional food can be added to other foods to enhance their functionality. Several clinical diagnostics demonstrate that quinoa consumption considerably enhances cardiovascular, metabolic and gastrointestinal health in humans. In the past two decades, quinoa has been used to create a variety of culinary and dietary supplement items. The seeds have been ingested similar to that of rice, consumed as soup, popped to formulate breakfast cereal, ground into fine powder to produce baked and toasted products like tortillas, noodles, cookies, flakes, biscuits, breads, and cereal bars. In addition, quinoa sprouts and leaves have been used into salads. The antibacterial characteristics of the bioactive chemicals found in quinoa seeds are vital for food preservation. As a versatile component, quinoa seeds can serve as an intriguing alternative source in human nutrition and in manufacturing of food items to improve the nutritional contents of the diets and contributes to the population's food and nutritional security.