Amaranth: A Grain, Flower and Weed
A Plant of Many Uses
Amarantos is greek for "unfading," but the genus amaranthus is more commonly known as pigweed. Species within the genus have been used in worship, eaten as grain or salad, and is one of the few grains containing a complete amino acid.
Amaranth as Food
As a grain, amaranth can be used in any way cereal grains are used. It has been brewed as a beer throughout history. As a snack similar to rice cakes, it is popped like popcorn and combined with honey. It is also gluten free and used partly as a wheat flour substitute. In addition, amaranth is special in the fact it contains high amounts of lysine along with other vitamins, which is lacking from most other grains.
Young amaranth leaves can be sautéed in butter or olive oil. They are commonly used in salads around the world similarly to spinach. When leaves mature they can still be edible but may need extra steaming or boiling for good flavor.
For years amaranth was the base ingredient for red food dyes. Red No.2 was used in candies and part of the famous “red M&Ms give you cancer” rumor. Red No.2 was outlawed in 1976 by the FDA after scientists found an extremely large amount of it caused cancer in mature mice.
Religious Use of Amaranth
Red amaranth was used by Aztecs as part of religious worship. When the Spanish arrived in Central America intent on spreading Christianity, they felt that by outlawing some of the iconography it would be easier to convert natives. Because of this some species almost became extinct.
Some Common Types of Amaranth
A. caudatus is also known as love-lies-bleeding. This decorative plant grows extremely tall in hot weather, is draught tolerant and can also be eaten as grain.
A. cruentus is more erect than caudatus but grows just as high. This is where most common food amaranth comes from.
A. retroflexus is the most commonly found invasive weed and possibly toxic to certain farm animals. This pigweed can be extremely bothersome. According to information reported by Stanley Culpepper at the University of Georgia, some have even shown resistance to group 9 herbicides.
A. hybridus grows in every state and is edible at least as a grain.
A. hypochondriacus is also known as Prince-of-Wales Feather and can be found in about half of the United States. It can be eaten as leaf or grain.
A. tricolor, besides being used as a decoration for its striking leaves, is commonly eaten as salad greens and grows shorter than those grown for grain.
Growing Amaranth
Amaranth cross pollinates between the species. Some consider this a difficulty in keeping them true.
Amaranth is not frost tolerant and the first frost is often the most appropriate time to harvest. When saving seed for next year, dry conditions are ideal but freezing temperatures do not need to be used in order to simulate winter conditions. When propagating, it is possible to just lay one of the heads onto soil and within a few weeks thousands of seedlings will appear. Thinning may take a few weeks to complete but will benefit the remaining plants immensely. Growing a “carpet” will result in plants one tenth the size of their potential. Additionally, transplanting seems to sap the plant of a huge amount of energy similar to poppies.
Sources
A. caudatus
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A. cruentus
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