Nutritional evaluation and functional properties of quinoa flour

The proximate analysis, evaluation of nutritionally valuable minerals, sugars, chemical properties of the oil and functional properties of the seed flour of quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) were studied. The results showed that the quinoa flour contained 11.2% moisture, 13.5% crude protein, 6.3% ether extract, 9.5% crude fibre, 1.2% total ash and 58.3% carbohydrate. The quinoa has a high proportion of d-xylose (120.0 mg in 100 g sample) and maltose (101.0 mg in 100 g sample), and a low content of glucose (19.0 mg in 100 g sample) and fructose (19.6 mg in 100 g sample), suggesting that it would be useful in malted drink formulations. The values for the chemical properties of the oil extracted were: acid value, 0.50%; iodine value, 54.0%; peroxide value, 2.44%; and saponification value, 192.0%. Quinoa has a high water absorption capacity (147.0%) and low foaming capacity and stability (9.0%, 2.0%). The flour has a least gelation concentration of 16%w/v. Protein solubility of the flour was also evaluated and found to be pH dependent, with minimum solubility at about pH 6.0.