Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoaWilld.) and kañiwa (Chenopodium pallidicauleAellen) are native food plants of high nutritional value grown in the Andean region and used as food by the Incas and previous cultures. Quinoa and kañiwa served as a substitute for scarce animal proteins and are still one of the principal protein sources of the region. The importance of these proteins is based on their quality, with a balanced composition of essential amino acids similar to the composition of casein, the protein of milk. According to studies at the Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina (UNALM), quinoa and kañiwa have a very high chemical score, and one cultivar of quinoa, Amarilla de Marangani, does not have any limiting amino acid. It is also important to recognize and utilize the relatively high quantity of oil in quinoa and kañiwa. These grains can be a potential raw material for oil extraction. The highest percentage of fatty acids present in these oils is Omega 6 (linoleic acid), being 50.2% for quinoa and 42.6% ...

Quinoa (Chenopodium quinua Willd.) was first domesticated in Andean countries over 7000 years ago. Following the Spanish conquest, quinoa was rejected as “Indian food”. After centuries of neglect, the potential of quinoa was rediscovered during the second half of the twentieth century. Since then, the number of countries importing quinoa increased, with new producers appearing on the map and quinoa now being cultivated in areas outside the Andean countries. The geographical increase in distribution of quinoa has highlighted the difficulty of access to quality seed, which is a key factor for testing the crop outside the Andes. In this context, research partnerships have helped promote the exchange of quinoa germplasm and have allowed trials to be undertaken in non-traditional areas of cultivation. The number of countries growing the crop has increased rapidly from eight in 1980, to 40 in 2010 and to 75 in 2014. A further 20 countries have sown quinoa for the first time in 2015. In this paper, we analyze this trend and discuss the limits of quinoa’s expansion. As commercial production of quinoa is expected to develop, changes in international regulatory frameworks on genetic resources are needed in order to facilitate plant breeding for the most adaptive varieties for each region.

Ionic and osmotic relations in quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) were studied by exposing plants to six salinity levels (0–500 mM NaCl range) for 70 d. Salt stress was administered either by pre-mixing of the calculated amount of NaCl with the potting mix before seeds were planted or by the gradual increase of NaCl levels in the irrigation water. For both methods, the optimal plant growth and biomass was achieved between 100 mM and 200 mM NaCl, suggesting that quinoa possess a very efficient system to adjust osmotically for abrupt increases in NaCl stress. Up to 95% of osmotic adjustment in old leaves and between 80% and 85% of osmotic adjustment in young leaves was achieved by means of accumulation of inorganic ions (Na⁺, K⁺, and Cl^–) at these NaCl levels, whilst the contribution of organic osmolytes was very limited. Consistently higher K⁺ and lower Na⁺ levels were found in young, as compared with old leaves, for all salinity treatments. The shoot sap K⁺ progressively increased with increased salinity in old leaves; this is interpreted as evidence for the important role of free K⁺ in leaf osmotic adjustment under saline conditions. A 5-fold increase in salinity level (from 100 mM to 500 mM) resulted in only a 50% increase in the sap Na⁺ content, suggesting either a very strict control of xylem Na⁺ loading or an efficient Na⁺ removal from leaves. A very strong correlation between NaCl-induced K⁺ and H⁺ fluxes was observed in quinoa root, suggesting that a rapid NaCl-induced activation of H⁺-ATPase is needed to restore otherwise depolarized membrane potential and prevent further K⁺ leak from the cytosol. Taken together, this work emphasizes the role of inorganic ions for osmotic adjustment in halophytes and calls for more in-depth studies of the mechanisms of vacuolar Na⁺ sequestration, control of Na⁺ and K⁺ xylem loading, and their transport to the shoot.