Nutritional value, physicochemical characterization and bioactive properties of the Brazilian quinoa: BRS Piabiru

Chenopodium quinoa Willd. is an ancient food crop that has provided nutrition to Andean populations for thousands of years. BRS Piabiru is a quinoa genotype developed and adapted to tropical climate by the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation. In this work, BRS Piabiru quinoa was evaluated concerning its nutritional, physicochemical and phenolic composition and also its bioactive properties. This variety showed high carbohydrate and protein contents and a low-fat level, composed of 86% of unsaturated fatty acids, 60% of which are polyunsaturated fatty acids. Four organic acids were detected, with quinic acid as the most abundant, while α- and γ-tocopherols were the vitamin E isoforms found. Quercetin and kaempferol glycosides were the main phenolic compounds in the quinoa extract, which also revealed relevant antioxidant and antimicrobial activities, with no toxic effect. These results support the potential of BRS Piabiru quinoa as a nutritious food crop and a source of bioactive compounds.The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) and FEDER under Programme PT2020 for financial support to CIMO (UID/AGR/00690/2019); the national funding by FCT, P.I., through the institutional scientific employment program-contract for L. Barros, A. Fernandes and R. Calhelha contracts; C. Pereira contract through the celebration of program-contract foreseen in No. 4, 5 and 6 of article 23° of Decree-Law No. 57/2016, of 29th August, amended by Law No. 57/2017, of 19th July; and FEDER-Interreg España-Portugal programme for financial support through the project 0377_Iberphenol_6_E. S. Sampaio thanks CAPES Foundation (Ministry of Education, Brazil) for her PhD grant no. 99999.001423/2015-00. GIP-USAL was financially supported by the Spanish Government through the project AGL2015-64522-C2-2-R.