Pseudocereals – important present-day crops

Maria TOADER, Gheorghe Valentin ROMAN University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Bucharest - Faculty of Agriculture At present, researchers’ attention is focused on the exploitation of alternative crops or underutilized species for multifarious uses. This new plant species has a more important role in the development and diversification of agricultural products and food, and for the development of Organic Agriculture which is a priority trend for Romanian Agriculture in the context of European and world agriculture.

Some pseudocereals are important today and these plants belong to other botanical family, but the utilization of their grains is as cereals: amaranth (

Amaranthus cruentus, Amaranthus hypochondriacus

)

, Amaranthaceae

Family, quinoa (C

henopodium quinoa

),

Chenopodiaceae

Family

,

buckwheat (

Fagopyrum esculentum

) -

Polygonaceae

Family.

Countries The situation of buckwheat in cultivating countries, 2004

(source: FAO STAT, 2004)

Table 1

Area harv (ha) Seed (t) Production (kg/ha) Yield (t)

China Ukraine Russia USA Poland France 1,000,000 700,000 641,200 65,000 37,254 36,121 105,000 30,000 55,000 2,600 2,000 2,700 800 450 818 1,000 1,182 2,798 800,000 311,000 525,350 65,000 44,068 101,075

Countries

Table 2

The situation of quinoa in cultivating countries

(source: FAO STAT, 2004)

Area harv (ha) Seed (t) Production (kg/ha) Yield (t)

Bolivia Peru Ecuador 40,600 28,000 750 609 560 8 591 1,000 500 24,000,000 28,000,000 375,000

In the countries of origin, pseudocereals are considered basic foodstuff owing to their nutritive value and, implicitly, their chemical value. Their high content in proteins, aminoacids, and minerals leads to an improved dietary composition of the products obtained from processing, and of their food value which is beneficial to human health. Either alone or as mixture with other cereals, they can improve the technological or use qualities. These improvements mean benefits for the consumers and also for the growers of these plants. Generally, they have promising nutritional value (proteins, essential aminoacids, lipids, minerals), economic and industrial importance for a variety of purposes for humankind.

Starch, lipids and mineral elements contents of pseudocereals and cereal grains

Source:

Saunders and Becker (1984), Koziol (1992), Robinson (1980)

Pseudocereals and cereals

Amaranthus spp.

Chenopodium quinoa Fagopyrum esculentum

Starch (%s.u.) Lipids (%s.u.) Ca

61 – 62 5.0 – 9.4

60 – 65 5.1 – 8.8

175 190

P Mineral elements Mg K Fe mg % s.u.

455 470 244 260 290 617 196

Cu Zn

217

ppm

12 37 67 50

Triticum aestivum Zea mays

62 – 72 1.8 – 2.5

60 – 76 3.0 – 9.0

50 70 420 360 160 140 520 390 50 21 7 14 -

Comparison of aminoacids in some cereals and pseudocereals

Source:

Saunders and Becker (1984), Koziol (1992), Robinson (1980)

Table 4

Amino acid Quino a Content (g aminoacid/100 g protein) Amarant h Buckwhea t Wheat Maize Rice Essential (for humans): Histidine Isoleucine Leucine Lysine Methionine + Cystine Phenylalanine + Tyrosine Threonine Tryptophan Valine 3.2

4.4

6.6

6.1

4.8

7.3

3.8

1.8

4.5

1.6

4.0

6.2

6.1

4.8

6.7

3.9

3.6

4.5

3.3

2.9

6.3

4.6

4.5

4.7

4.9

3.2

6.0

2.0

4.2

6.8

2.6

3.7

8.2

2.8

1.2

4.4

2.6

4.0

12.5

2.9

4.0

8.6

3.8

0.7

5.0

2.1

4.1

8.2

3.8

3.6

10.5

3.8

1.1

6.1

To conclude, activities should be continued and expanded in the following areas: increased knowledge about the biology of these new plants on the limiting nutritional factors of raw and processed grain; knowledge of the needs of these plants, specific consumers, needs of pedoclimatic conditions; agrotechnology, with significant activities in genetics, with a focus on nutritive value, increased yield, and the physical and chemical characteristics of the plant and grain; problems of these plants: fertilization, pests, insects, weeds, harvest; development of agro-industry technologies to use the grains of pseudocereals, particularly in the developing countries; improved processing technologies to achieve attractive functional properties and nutritive value; use of the whole plant, and/or plant residues after grain harvest; development a strategy of marketing for the commercialization of the grains of these plants; increased dissemination of the information on research.