article · Molecules
Eight genotypes from two underutilised leafy vegetable species, Amaranthus tricolor and Amaranthus lividus, were grown in ambient field conditions to evaluate their phytonutrient, pigment, and antioxidant profiles. The tested accessions exhibited considerable variation in their biochemical and nutritional contents. Amaranthus tricolor accessions contained the highest levels of dietary fibre, fats, essential minerals such as potassium, magnesium, and manganese, as well as total phenolics, flavonoids, betalains, and radical scavenging capacity. In comparison, Amaranthus lividus accessions demonstrated the highest levels of protein, carbohydrates, copper, and calcium. Specific accessions of Amaranthus tricolor exhibited peak values for vitamin C, total phenolics, and total flavonoids. Across the evaluated materials, antioxidant activity strongly correlated with concentrations of vitamin C, pigments, beta-carotene, phenolics, and flavonoids, indicating substantial nutritional value.
Many communities face chronic deficiencies in essential vitamins, minerals, and dietary antioxidants. Identifying underutilised indigenous crops with dense nutrient and phytochemical profiles provides a route to diversify diets and combat malnutrition. This research highlights specific leafy Amaranthus genotypes that can deliver vital micro-nutrients and natural protective antioxidants under standard growing conditions.
The findings point towards the selection of specific Amaranthus tricolor genotypes as high-yielding, nutrient-dense cultivars or sources of natural colourant pigments such as betalains. Plant breeders, commercial growers, and functional food producers could utilise these accessions to develop fortified food products or targeted crops for nutrient-deficient regions. This represents early-stage to applied field research, with genotypes tested in ambient field trials but requiring further agronomic development and supply chain scaling before market deployment.
AI-generated from the published abstract. Always read the original work before citing.
The underutilized Amaranthus leafy vegetables are a unique basis of pigments such as β-cyanins, β-xanthins, and betalains with radical scavenging capacity (RSC). They have abundant phytonutrients and antioxidant components, such as pigments, vitamins, phenolics, and flavonoids. Eight selected genotypes (four genotypes from each species) of underutilized Amaranthus leafy vegetables were evaluated for phytonutrients, pigments, vitamins, phenolics, flavonoids, and antioxidants in a randomized complete block design under ambient field conditions with three replicates. The studied traits showed a wide range of variations across eight genotypes of two species of Amaranthus leafy vegetables. The highest fat, β-xanthins, K, dietary fiber, Mg, β-cyanins, Mn, chlorophyll ab, Zn, TP, TF, betalains, chlorophyll a content, and (RSC) (DPPH) and RSC (ABTS+) were obtained from A. tricolor accessions. Conversely, the highest protein, Cu, carbohydrates, Ca, and chlorophyll b content were obtained from A. lividus accessions. The highest dry matter, carotenoids, Fe, energy, and ash were obtained from A. tricolor and A. lividus. The accession AT2 confirmed the highest vit. C and RSC (DPPH) and RSC (ABTS+); AT5 had the highest TP content; and AT12 had the highest TF content. A. tricolor accessions had high phytochemicals across the two species, such as phytopigments, vitamins, phenolics, antioxidants, and flavonoids, with considerable nutrients and protein. Hence, A. tricolor accessions can be used as high-yielding cultivars comprising ample antioxidants. The correlation study revealed that vitamin C, pigments, flavonoids, β-carotene, and phenolics demonstrated a strong RSC, and showed a substantial contribution to the antioxidant potential (AP) of A. tricolor. The investigation exposed that the accessions displayed a plentiful origin of nutritional values, phytochemicals, and AP with good quenching ability of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that provide enormous prospects for nourishing the mineral-, antioxidant-, and vitamin-threatened community.
This page summarises published work. The authoritative version sits with the publisher.
DOI: 10.3390/molecules27092899
Is something wrong with this record? Report it or request removal.
Discussion
Have you built on this work, tried to replicate it, or seen it applied in practice? Share what you know. Verified researchers and MARATTO™ domain experts can open a discussion, and any member can reply. Contributions are reviewed before they appear.
No discussion yet. Open the first thread.
New to MARATTO™? Create a free account.
