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| Amaranth | |
|---|---|
| Name | Amaranth |
| Regnum | Plantae |
| Unranked divisio | Angiosperms |
| Unranked classis | Eudicots |
| Unranked ordo | Core eudicots |
| Ordo | Caryophyllales |
| Familia | Amaranthaceae |
| Genus | Amaranthus |
| Authority | L. |
Amaranth Amaranth is a group of flowering plants in the genus Amaranthus known for broad use as grain, leaf vegetable, and ornamental. Historically cultivated across the Americas, Asia, and Africa, amaranth has been a staple in various pre-Columbian societies and later adopted by agronomists and botanists worldwide. Modern research by institutions and agencies has evaluated amaranth for nutrition, drought tolerance, and industrial applications.
Species-level treatment of the genus Amaranthus appears in floras and monographs by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United States Department of Agriculture, Missouri Botanical Garden, Botanical Society of America, and taxonomists such as Carl Linnaeus and Kurt Sprengel. Diagnostic characters are detailed in keys in works by Alfredo Webb, Paul Standley, and regional treatments like the Flora of North America and Flora Europaea. Chromosome counts and phylogenies appear in studies published by researchers at Smithsonian Institution, Max Planck Society, and universities including Harvard University, University of California, Davis, CIMMYT, and Wageningen University. Horticultural classification used by Royal Horticultural Society distinguishes grain types from ornamentals like the cultivar groups popularized in catalogs from Burpee Seeds and Thompson & Morgan. Taxonomic revisions reference herbarium specimens at Kew Herbarium, New York Botanical Garden Herbarium, and Natural History Museum, London.
Native ranges described in the Encyclopedia of Life and regional floras list native distribution across parts of North America, Central America, and South America with introduced ranges in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. Occurrence records are archived by Global Biodiversity Information Facility, USDA PLANTS Database, and national herbaria at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Australian National Herbarium. Habitats include disturbed sites, agroecosystems studied by FAO, rangelands monitored by World Resources Institute, and urban environments surveyed by municipal programs in cities like New York City, Mexico City, and Mumbai. Ecological associations have been reported in work by Janzen, Simpson, and research groups at University of Queensland and University of Pretoria.
Agronomic guides from FAO, Rockefeller Foundation, IFAD, and national extension services such as USDA Cooperative Extension and University of Illinois Extension describe sowing times, soil requirements, and rotation with crops like maize, beans, sorghum, and millet. Plant breeding and seed systems have been advanced by programs at CIMMYT, ICRISAT, Embrapa, and university trials at Iowa State University and Cornell University. Mechanization and postharvest handling were evaluated by research teams at International Rice Research Institute and CSIR. Agronomic traits including photoperiod sensitivity, drought tolerance, and nutrient use efficiency appear in reports from US Agency for International Development projects and trials run by Bayer CropScience and public breeding programs at University of Illinois.
Culinary uses feature in ethnobotanical studies by National Geographic Society, cookery texts referencing Mexico, Peru, India, and Nepal, and public health programs by WHO and UNICEF promoting nutrient-dense crops. Grain amaranth is milled into flour by small mills supported by Heifer International and used in traditional dishes documented by Smithsonian Folkways and museums like the Museum of Natural History, New York. Ornamental uses are promoted by societies such as the Royal Horticultural Society and featured at horticultural shows like the Chelsea Flower Show and by nurseries including Monrovia Plants. Medicinal applications were recorded by ethnobotanists at Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Field Museum, and researchers at Johns Hopkins University and University of Oxford exploring phytochemicals. Industrial research into pigments and starches involves companies and labs at Dow Chemical Company, DuPont, and university spin-offs from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Nutrient analyses are reported by USDA National Nutrient Database, FAO/WHO, and research groups at Harvard School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Wageningen University. Analyses compare amaranth protein profiles with legumes in studies published in journals where authors from National Institutes of Health and European Food Safety Authority collaborate. Clinical and epidemiological investigations involving NGOs like Mercy Corps and research consortia including Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation examine impacts on micronutrient deficiencies and food security. Phytochemical studies have been conducted at Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology and laboratories at ETH Zurich and University of Tokyo evaluating antioxidant activity.
Economic analyses by World Bank, IFPRI, and UNDP assess smallholder income from amaranth production in regions surveyed by BRAC, CARE International, and national ministries of agriculture in India, Mexico, and Kenya. Cultural roles are documented in anthropological studies at University of Chicago and texts about Aztec and Inca practices, with museum collections at the National Museum of Anthropology (Mexico City) and Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. Market studies appear in reports by Euromonitor International and commodity studies by Rabobank and Goldman Sachs analyzing niche markets for pseudocereals and ancient grains alongside quinoa and teff.
Integrated pest management literature from CABI, CIAT, and extension services at K-State Research and Extension catalogs pests such as beetles and Lepidoptera recorded by entomologists at USDA ARS and universities like Iowa State University and Penn State University. Disease surveys by plant pathologists at APS (American Phytopathological Society), CIMMYT, and ICAR list fungal, viral, and bacterial pathogens and management strategies tested in trials at International Institute of Tropical Agriculture and University of Ghana. Breeding programs use germplasm conserved at Svalbard Global Seed Vault, National Plant Germplasm System, and international collections curated by CIMMYT and ICRISAT with molecular work from labs at John Innes Centre, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and Broad Institute.