Quinoa: The highly nutritious crop for better living

In the last decade, quinoa expanded to new environments, but despite its amazing characteristics, organic quinoa is still a crop belonging to small farmers inhabiting a niche and unique environment.

Its content of proteins, minerals, vitamins, and lack of gluten has encouraged its adaptation to new environments. However, market challenges persist because it remains an expensive grain and it is still not understood.

Rather than a simple grain it is a carrier of biodiversity, resilience and interesting characteristics. Between a few of them:

• The leaves carry small bladder cells, which function has not yet been fully discovered
• Quinoa plants can be related genetically but the expression of its rich genetic background makes them different when they are growing.

Quinoa leads us to more scientific discoveries and understanding of adaptation in the era of DNA technology and big data.

(Photo: Shutterstock)