foods Review Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.): An Overview of the Potentials of the “Golden Grain” and Socio-Economic and Environmental Aspects of Its Cultivation and Marketization Viktória Angeli 1, Pedro Miguel Silva 2,3,* , Danilo Crispim Massuela 4 , Muhammad Waleed Khan 5, Alicia Hamar 6, Forough Khajehei 4, Simone Graeff-Hönninger 4 and Cinzia Piatti 7 1 Department of Historical and Geographic Sciences and the Ancient World (DiSSGeA), University of Padova, 35141 Padova, Italy;
[email protected] 2 Centre of Biological Engineering, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal 3 International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory, Av. Mestre José Veiga s/n, 4715-330 Braga, Portugal 4 Institute of Crop Science, University of Hohenheim, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany;
[email protected] (D.C.M.);
[email protected] (F.K.); simone.graeff@uni-hohenheim.de (S.G.-H.) 5 Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University Hohenheim, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany;
[email protected] 6 Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Hohenheim, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany;
[email protected] 7 Institute of Social Sciences in Agriculture, University of Hohenheim, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany;
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected] Received: 26 December 2019; Accepted: 15 February 2020; Published: 19 February 2020 Abstract: Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) is native to the Andean region and has attracted a global growing interest due its unique nutritional value. The protein content of quinoa grains is higher than other cereals while it has better distribution of essential amino acids. It can be used as an alternative to milk proteins. Additionally, quinoa contains a high amount of essential fatty acids, minerals, vitamins, dietary fibers, and carbohydrates with beneficial hypoglycemic effects while being gluten-free.