G. López-García; L.X. López-Martínez; O. Dublán-García; R. Baeza-Jiménez
Descripción:
Quintonil (Amaranthus hybridus) grows as shrub and it is commonly used as animal feed. This typical Mexican vegetableis consumed in certain regions after a thermal processing, namely, boiling, frying or steaming. Some reports indicate thatquintonil contains nutritive compounds such as, vitamins, proteins, chlorophyll, phenolic compounds and polyunsaturated fattyacids (PUFA). The aim of the present work was to identify and quantify lipid fractions and to obtain the fatty acid profile ofquintonil leaves, as well as to assess the effect of thermal processing (boiling and steaming) on such profile. Our data showed thatpalmitic, palmitoleic, stearic, oleic, linoleic andα-linolenic (ALA) acids were present. ALA was the predominant residue in allthe treatments: 1417.8 - 1667.5 mg/100g (fresh), 1621.4 - 1667.5 mg/100g (boiled) and 1437.9 - 1912.6 mg/100g (steamed). Asimilar behaviour was observed for the other fatty acids, indicating that thermal processing did not affect the fatty acid profile ofquintonil. Conversely, it seemed to favour their availability. This research promotes quintonil consumption because of its healthimplications in an attempt to preserve Mexican biodiversity and revaluate this ancient crop.