Amaranth, a must plant in your dooryard!
Eversince I have started my edible gardening, Amaranth has been pestering me of it's presence as a weed, at least that' s what I believe it is. A WEED! with all the spikes! But noy anymore!
This morning I have harvested some "siling labuyo as they are starting to get dried. Siling Labuyo is selling at P70.00 per kilo and I have them in the garden waiting to be picked, and so I did! Beside the rows of siling labuyo, there I found again some Amaranth. I took some pictures and thought of researching about it. I believe this plant has been making its presence known to me since then so I might as well give it a try.. True to my gut feel below is the Nutrients we can benefit from Amaranth: (excerpt from the report posted at
VI. Nutrient Value
Amaranth is a rich source of calcium, iron and vitamin A as shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Nutritional values of amaranth (Raw and Boiled/100 grams edible portion)
Nutrients
Raw Boiled
Moisture (%) 84.4 83.9
Food energy (cal.) 47.0 27.0
Protein (g) 4.6 4.4
Fiber (g) 1.1 -
Total Carbohydrates (g) 7.4 4.4
Ash (g) 2.5 -
Calcium (mg) 341.0 314.0
Phosphorus (mg) 76.0 62.0
Iron (mg) 18.0 -
Sodium (mg) 51.0 -
Potassium (mg) 443.0 -
Vit. A (I.U.) 12, 860.0 12,345.0
Thiamine (mg) 0.01 0.01
Riboflavin (mg) 0.37 0.33
Niacin (mg) 1.80 1.70
Ascorbic acid (mg) 120.00 109.00
Given the above nutritional value, I must eat raw and compete with Popeye. Aha, I made it as a beverage by blending it with kalamansi, honey and stevia with some cube ice in the decanter, i pour the blended amazing amaranth juice! Goodbye osteoporosis?
(Sorry too excited to taste that I sipped before i took the picture. So delicious I almost have it all. It tastes so good but I stopped, remembering I should blog it!)