Difference between revisions of "AY Honors/Edible Wild Plants/Amaranth"

Latest revision as of 02:46, 27 July 2022

Amaranth

Description: Amaranth, is a cosmopolitan genus of annual or short-lived perennial plants. Catkin-like cymes of densely packed flowers grow in summer or autumn. Approximately 60 species are recognized, with inflorescences and foliage ranging from purple and red to green or gold. Although several species are often considered weeds, people around the world value amaranths as leaf vegetables and cereals.

Where found: Worldwide in temperate and tropical zones

Availability: Summer, Fall

Use: Amaranth species are cultivated and consumed as a leaf vegetable in many parts of the world. The seeds can be collected and used as a grain (or ground into flour). To maximize seed harvest, shake the near-mature seed heads into a paper bag or onto a canvas. If the growing area is large, it is faster to cut the heads all at once when most of the seeds are ripe. The fully ripened heads tend to drop their seeds. Dry for a week and thresh the heads with gloved hands or feet on canvas as the chaff is somewhat prickly. The seeds may be lost when winnowing because the chaff and seeds are of similar size and the seeds are of a light weight. If you heap uncleaned seeds in a bowl and toss them, the light debris will concentrate on the top and can be blown away. Repeat this until only seeds remain.

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-'''Amaranth''' is used as a general term for all members of the plant genus ''Amaranthus'' (family [[Amaranthaceae]]).  The genus contains several well-known garden plants, such as [[love-lies-bleeding]] (''A. caudatus''), a native of [[India]], a vigorous hardy annual, with dark purplish flowers crowded in handsome drooping spikes.  Another species ''A. hypochondriacus'', is [[prince's feather]], another Indian annual, with deeply-veined lance-shaped leaves, purple on the under face, and deep crimson flowers densely packed on erect spikes.
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-The leaves and seeds of Amaranthus species are edible: Amaranthus seed was one of the staple foodstuffs of the [[Inca]]s, and it is known as ''kiwicha'' in the Andes today. The seed was used also by the [[Aztec]]s and other Amerindian peoples in [[Mexico]] to prepare ritual drinks and foods. To this day, amaranth seeds are toasted much like popcorn and mixed with [[honey]] or [[molasses]] to make a treat called ''alegría'' in Mexican [[Spanish language|Spanish]].
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-Amaranth was used in several Aztec ceremonies, where images of their gods were made with Amaranth mixed with honey. The images were cut to be eaten by the people. This looked like the christian comunion to the catholic priests, so the cultivation of this seed was forbidden for centuries.  Amaranth was recovered from wild varieties..
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+EWP
+| name = Amaranth
+| image = Amaranthus tricolor0.jpg
+| description = Amaranth, is a cosmopolitan genus of annual or short-lived perennial plants. Catkin-like cymes of densely packed flowers grow in summer or autumn. Approximately 60 species are recognized, with inflorescences and foliage ranging from purple and red to green or gold.
-The protein in the seed is particularly well suited to human nutritional needs, and interest in this crop (<i>A. Cruentis</i> and <i>A. hypochondriaca</i>) was revived in the [[1970s]].
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+Although several species are often considered weeds, people around the world value amaranths as leaf vegetables and cereals.
+| range = Worldwide in temperate and tropical zones
+| seasons = Summer, Fall
+| use = Amaranth species are cultivated and consumed as a leaf vegetable in many parts of the world. The seeds can be collected and used as a grain (or ground into flour).
-== Myth, Legend and Poetry ==
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+To maximize seed harvest, shake the near-mature seed heads into a paper bag or onto a canvas. If the growing area is large, it is faster to cut the heads all at once when most of the seeds are ripe. The fully ripened heads tend to drop their seeds.
-'''AMARANTH''', or AMARANT (from the Gr. ''amarantos'', unwithering), a name chiefly used in poetry, and applied to
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-certain plants which, from not soon fading, typified immortality. Thus [[John Milton|Milton]] ([[Paradise Lost]], iii. 353) --
+Dry for a week and thresh the heads with gloved hands or feet on canvas as the chaff is somewhat prickly. The seeds may be lost when winnowing because the chaff and seeds are of similar size and the seeds are of a light weight. If you heap uncleaned seeds in a bowl and toss them, the light debris will concentrate on the top and can be blown away. Repeat this until only seeds remain.
-<blockquote>
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-:"Immortal amarant, a flower which once
+}}
-:In paradise, fast by the tree of life,
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-:Began to bloom; but soon for man's offence
-:To heaven removed, where first it grew, there grows,
-:And flowers aloft, shading the fount of life,
-:And where the river of bliss through midst of heaven
-:Rolls o'er elysian flowers her amber stream:
-:With these that never fade the spirits elect
-:Bind their resplendent locks."
-</blockquote>
-It should be noted that the proper spelling of the word is amarant; the more common spelling seems to have come from a hazy notion that the final syllable is the Greek word anthos, "flower,"  which enters into a vast number of botanical names.
-In ancient [[Greece]] the amaranth (also called chrusanthemon
-and elichrusos) was sacred to Ephesian [[Artemis]].  It was
-supposed to have special healing properties, and as a symbol of
-immortality was used to decorate images of the gods and tombs.
-In legend, [[Amarynthus]] (a form of Amarantus) was a hunter of
-Artemis and king of [[Euboea]]; in a village of Amarynthus, of which
-he was the eponymous hero, there was a famous temple of Artemis
-Amarynthia or Amarysia (Strabo x. 448; Pausan. i. 31, p. 5).
-==References==
-* Lenz, Botanik der alt.  Greich. und Rom. (1859)
-* J. Murr, Die Pflanzenwelt in der griech.  Mythol. (1890)
-* 1911 encyclopedia entry, with some more modern additions
-== Other things called Amaranth ==
-"[[Globe amaranth]]" belongs to an allied genus, ''[[Gomphrena]]'', and is also a native of [[India]]. It is an annual about 18 inches (450 mm) high, with solitary round heads of flowers; the heads are violet from the colour of the bracts which surround the small flowers.
-Amaranth wood or [[Purpleheart]] is from the unrelated ''Peltogyne'' ([[Fabaceae]]).  It has a unique dark purplish tone to it, and is used decoratively.
-[[Amaranth (dye)|Amaranth]] is a dark red to purple [[dye]] once used for [[food additive|colouring food]] but now banned by the [[FDA]].
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-[[de:Amaranth (Lebensmittel)]]
-[[fr:Amarante]]