Abstract
Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd) is a plant that recently have been successfully grown in Egypt, providing seeds rich in nutrients and bioactive compounds. Present study aimed the characterization of chemical composition, nutritional value, amino acid and fatty acid profiles of selected quinoa accessions (Shams17-2, Shams16 and Shams14) cultivated in Egypt. Moisture, ash, crude protein, crude fat, crude fiber and carbohydrate contents of quinoa seeds were ranged from 10.74 to 11.77%, 3.22 to 3.87%, 11.15 to 17.81%, 4.01 to 6.14%, 6.30 to 8.24 and 56.69 to 66.07%, respectively. Shams17-2 was the richest source of Mg, K and Fe while Shams16 was the richest in Na and Zn. The highest amount of total amino acids was recorded in Shams17-2, whereas the highest content of essential amino acids was found in Shams14. Seeds from Shams17-2 were distinctive with the highest amount of non-essential amino acids. The unsaturated fatty acids content of quinoa oils was 86.60, 87.07 and 85.05% while the saturated fatty acids recorded 10.90, 9.44 and 10.75% for Shams17-2, Shams16 and Shams14, respectively. It could be concluded that quinoa seeds from the new accessions, cultivated in Egypt are a good source of essential nutrients such as minerals, essential amino acids and essential fatty acids.