Abstract
The aim of this work was to evaluate the chemical composition; mineral and vitamin contents; total phenolic and flavonoids contents; antioxidant activity of the quinoa seeds powder (QSP) and their effect on diabetic rats. The higher concentrations of minerals were K (3441.95 mg/Kg) and Mg (1147.32 mg/Kg) and quinoa seeds contained a considerable amount of riboflavin (B2), pyridoxine (B6), folic acid (B9), cobalamin (B12), alpha tocopherol (E) and beta carotene equal to 0.60, 5.83, 6.80, 0.27, 2.010 and 0.127 mg/100g, respectively. The total phenolic and total flavonoids content of quinoa seeds powder were 2.63 mg GAE/g, and 0.53 mg CE/g, respectively. Antioxidant activity was measured as 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity (DPPH) and 2,2'-azinobis (3-ethyl benzo thiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) radical cation (ABTS) were 0.29 and 4.38 mg TE/g, respectively. Sensory properties of both quinoa pudding and quinoa soup showed insignificant differences. However, in biological experiment, the blood and the glucose levels after consumption of quinoa at different concentrations were reduced from 236.7 mg/dl to 98.7mg/dl at 40% quinoa and to 120.3 mg/dl at 30% quinoa with an average fasting of normal level of 64.3 mg/dl. Furthermore, the thyroid hormones T3 and T4 were reduced significantly after feeding rats on quinoa seeds powder at different concentrations. Histopathological determination of pancreas of diabetic rats revealed that interlobular inflammatory cells infiltration where pancreas of diabetic rats fed on 20, 30 and 40% quinoa powder revealed no histopathological changes.