Phytochemical and biological studies of Chenopodium quinoa introduced to Egypt

Abstract

Chenopodium quinoa willd is a member of the plant family Amaranthaceae (formerly Chenopodiaceae) which is an annual herb native to the Andean region, where it is cultivated widely as a food crop in many South American countries. Quinoa is a highly nutritious pseudocereal with a wonderful content of proteins, vitamins, minerals and nutraceutics. The quinoa seed extracts contain large amounts of total phenolicss and flavonoids and have high antioxidant and free radical scavenging activities Furthermore, the quinoa seed extracts have been shown to be a possible antiproliferative and antimicrobial agent. The antioxidant and biological activities may be attributed to the synergistic behavior of bioactive compounds found in them.

Second: Phytochemical Studies The phytochemical studies included: A. Perliminary Phytochemical screening Phytochemical screening of Chenopodium quinoa seeds revealed the presence of carbohydrates and/or glycosides, tannins, flavonoids, sterols and/or triterpenes as well as coumarins in the plant seed, while anthraquinones were absent.

B. Analysis of micro and macro elements The analysis revealed that Chenopodium quinoa seed contains an exceptionally high quantity of iron, fairly high calcium content and Copper present in trace amount these results give the plants a high nutritive value and further studies could be carried out to prove the efficiency of the plant in treating anemia.

C. Comparison of traditional and the innovated extraction techniques Innovated extraction techniques (MAE and UAE) using 80% methanol for plant seeds revealed that innovated extraction techniques gave a considerably good yield upon comparison with the traditional extraction method which gave a higher yield but it was time and solvent consuming.

D. Investigation of the lipoidal matter using GLC

• GLC of USM of Chenopodium quinoa seeds indicated that it consists mainly of a mixture of a series of n-alkanes (79.96 %), and a series of sterols (7.912%). • Total unsaturated fatty acids of Chenopodium quinoa was found to be (87.83 %), and total saturated fatty acids (9.7%). • Linoleic acid (C18:2) is the main fatty acid in the seed followed by oleic, palmitic, linolenic and arachidonic acids.

E. Quantitative estimation of total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) TPC of 80% alcoholic extracts of Chenopodium quinoa seed expressed as mg of gallic acid equivalents/1 g seed (22.42). But TFC of 80% alcoholic extracts of quinoa seed was (5.02) expressed as mg of catechin equivalents/1 g of seeds.