WideningTheSourcesandUsagesinAdventistVegetarianDiet Forward 3 Amaranth(“callaloo”Jamaicanname) 4 Uses 6 Leaves,roots,andstems 8 ]Ornamentals 9 Nutritionalvalue 10 GrainAmaranthALostCropOfTheAmericas 14 PlantDescription 15 Utilization 16 Mar etsandEconomics 17 HowtoGrowGrainAmaranth 17 VarietiesandSeedSelection 18 Planting 18 Fertility 19 PestManagement 19 Insects 20 Diseases 20 HarvestandStorage 20 Quinoa 21 Overview 22 Naturaldistribution 24 Historyandculture 24 Biology 24 Cultivation 25 Agronomy 25 Cultivationmanagement 26 Harvestingandhandling 26 Nutritionalvalue 26 Romerito 29 Romeritos:AMexicanGreen 30 Cnidoscolusaconitifolius 31 Chaya(TreeSpinach) 31 Taxonomy 32 Cultivation 32 Consumption 33 PotentialNutritionalandHealthBenefitsofTreeSpinach* 34 RESULTS 36 CONCLUSION 37 arrozconchaya 43 Ingredients 43 Preparation 43 Hibiscus 44 Description 44 Nationalsymbol 46 Forward Thissmallcollectionofarticlesta enfromtheinternetwasputtogetherspeci ficallyforthemembershipoftheTentCitySeventhDayAdventistChurch,whoI observedduringmyshortvisitationthere,tohaveamar edpreferenceforveget ariandishes.ThiscollectionwouldalsobeusefulforthemembersoftheRastaf ariancommunity,whoshareasomewhatsimilardietarypreferencewiththeAdven tistswhoIhadtheopportunityofobserving. Thiscollectionisaimedatsatisfyingtwoobjectives.Firstly,tofacilitateth ewideningofthefoodstoc basethatisavailabletobothcommunities;allthe plantspresented(withexceptionofthecallaloo:Amarnth)hereareavailable inJamaica,howevertheyarenotharvestedbecauseofignorancetotheirpotenti aluse.Inthecaseofthecallaloo(Amarnth)the"pseudograin"isnotutilized becauseofthemista enviewthat“wholewheat”flourissubstitutableintermsofn utrients.TheTreeSpinach(Chaya)isalsopresentedasapotentialnonlegume, nonmeatproteinsource. Secondly,giventheincreasingincidentsofsocialdiseasessuchashypertension anddiabetesaswellasproblemsrelatedtothe idneyandotherinternalorgan s,itishopedthatbyreintroducingtheseplantstothesecommunities,especia llytheTentCityCommunitywhichasanaverageofmembershipofupwardsof30y ears,healthbenefitswillalsorealized.HereIwouldwanttohighlightbothth eChayaandHibiscusplantsforspecialmention. FinallyIwouldli etoutilizethisopportunitytoexpressmygratitudetothe TentCitySeventhDayAdventistCommunityforthehospitalityandthehandsoff riendshipextendedtome.WhileIamnotanadherentofthatfaithandwillneve rbe,IdocherishthefriendlyandwarmmemoriesItoo fromthecommunity. BasilFletscher Amaranth(“callaloo”Jamaicanname) Amaranthus Amaranthuscaudatus Amaranthus,collectively nownasamaranth,isacosmopolitangenusofherbs.Ap proximately60speciesarerecognized,withinflorescencesandfoliagerangingf rompurpleandredtogold.Membersofthisgenussharemanycharacteristicsand useswithmembersofthecloselyrelatedgenusCelosia. Althoughseveralspeciesareoftenconsideredweeds,peoplearoundtheworldval ueamaranthsasleafvegetables,cereals,andornamentals. Theultimaterootof"amaranth"istheGree ἀμάραντος(amarantos),"unfading,"withtheGree dfor"flower,"ἄνθος(anthos),factoringintotheword'sdevelopmentas"amaranth."Them oreaccurate"amarant"isanarchaicvariant. Systematics Amaranthusshowsawidevarietyofmorphologicaldiversityamongandevenwithin certainspecies.Althoughthefamily(Amaranthaceae)isdistinctive,thegenus hasfewdistinguishingcharactersamongthe70speciesincluded.Thiscomplicate staxonomyandAmaranthushasgenerallybeenconsideredamongsystematistsasa "difficult"genus. Formerly,Sauer(1955)classifiedthegenusintotwosubgenera,differentiating onlybetweenmonoeciousanddioeciousspecies:Acnida(L.)AellenexK.R.Robert sonandAmaranthus.Althoughthisclassificationwaswidelyaccepted,furtherin fragenericclassificationwas(andstillis)neededtodifferentiatethiswidely diversegroup. Currently,Amaranthusincludesthreerecognizedsubgeneraand70species,althou ghspeciesnumbersarequestionableduetohybridizationandspeciesconcepts.I nfragenericclassificationfocusesoninflorescence,flowercharactersandwheth eraspeciesismonoecious/dioecious,asintheSauer(1955)suggestedclassific ation.AmodifiedinfragenericclassificationofAmaranthuswaspublishedbyMos ya in&Robertson(1996)andincludesthreesubgenera:Acnida,Amaranthus,andA lbersia.Thetaxonomyisfurtherdifferentiatedbysectionswithineachofthes ubgenera. Species • Amaranthusacanthochiton–greenstripe • Amaranthusacutilobus–sharplobeamaranth;isasynonymofAmaranthusviridisAma ranthusalbus–whitepigweed,prostratepigweed,pigweedamaranth • Amaranthusarenicola–sandhillamaranth • Amaranthusaustralis–southernamaranth • Amaranthusbigelovii–Bigelow'samaranth • Amaranthusblitoides–matamaranth,prostrateamaranth,prostratepigweed • Amaranthusblitum–purpleamaranth • Amaranthusbrownii–Brown'samaranth • Amaranthuscalifornicus–Californiaamaranth,Californiapigweed • Amaranthuscannabinus–tidalmarshamaranth • Amaranthuscaudatus–loveliesbleeding,pendantamaranth,tasselflower,quilete • Amaranthuschihuahuensis–chihuahuanamaranth • Amaranthuschlorostachys • Amaranthuscrassipes–spreadingamaranth • Amaranthuscrispus–crispleafamaranth • Amaranthuscruentus–purpleamaranth,redamaranth,Mexicangrainamaranth • Amaranthusdeflexus–largefruitamaranth • Amaranthusdubius–spleenamaranth, hadasag • Amaranthusfimbriatus–fringedamaranth,fringedpigweed • Amaranthusfloridanus–Floridaamaranth • Amaranthusgangeticus–elephantheadamaranth • Amaranthusgraecizans • Amaranthusgreggii–Gregg'samaranth • Amaranthushybridus–smoothamaranth,smoothpigweed,redamaranth • Amaranthushypochondriacus–PrinceofWalesfeather,princessfeather • Amaranthusleucocarpus • Amaranthuslineatus–Australianamaranth • Amaranthuslividus • Amaranthusmantegazzianus–QuinoadeCastilla • Amaranthusminimus • Amaranthusmuricatus–Africanamaranth • Amaranthusobcordatus–TransPecosamaranth • Amaranthusoleraceous–KosalaSag • Amaranthuspalmeri–Palmer'samaranth,palmerpigweed,carelessweed • Amaranthuspaniculus–Reuzenamarant • Amaranthuspolygonoides–tropicalamaranth • Amaranthuspowellii–greenamaranth,Powellamaranth,Powellpigweed • Amaranthuspringlei–Pringle'samaranth • Amaranthuspumilus–seasideamaranth • Amaranthusquitensis–ataco,sangorache • Amaranthusretroflexus–redrootamaranth,redrootpigweed,commonamaranth • Amaranthusrudis–tallamaranth,commonwaterhemp • Amaranthusscleropoides–bonebractamaranth • Amaranthusspinosus–spinyamaranth,pric lyamaranth,thornyamaranth • Amaranthusstandleyanus • Amaranthusthunbergii–Thunberg'samaranth • Amaranthustorreyi–Torrey'samaranth • Amaranthustricolor–Joseph'scoat • Amaranthustuberculatus–roughfruitamaranth,tallwaterhemp • Amaranthusviridis–slenderamaranth,greenamaranth • Amaranthuswatsonii–Watson'samaranth • Amaranthuswrightii–Wright'samaranth Uses Amaranthseed Severalspeciesareraisedforamaranth"grain"inAsiaandtheAmericas.Thiss houldmorecorrectlybetermed"pseudograin"(seebelow).Amaranthgraincontain snoglutenandissafetoconsumeforindividualswithcoeliacdisease. Ancientamaranthgrainsstillusedtothisdayincludethethreespecies,Amaran thuscaudatus,Amaranthuscruentus,andAmaranthushypochondriacus.Althoughama ranthwascultivatedonalargescaleinancientMexico,Guatemala,andPeru,no wadaysitisonlycultivatedonasmallscalethere,alongwithIndia,China,Ne pal,andothertropicalcountries;thus,thereispotentialforfurthercultivat ioninthosecountries,aswellasintheU.S.Ina1977articleinScience,ama ranthwasdescribedas"thecropofthefuture."Ithasbeenproposedasaninex pensivenativecropthatcouldbecultivatedbyindigenouspeopleinruralareas forseveralreasons: 1. Itiseasilyharvested. 2. Itishighlytolerantofaridenvironments,whicharetypicalofmostsu btropicalandsometropicalregions[citationneeded],and 3. Itsseedsareagoodsourceofprotein.Comparedtoothergrains,amaran thisunusuallyrichintheessentialaminoacidlysineCommongrainssuchasw heatandcornarecomparativelyrichinaminoacidsthatamaranthlac s;thus,a maranthandothergrainscancomplementeachother. 4. TheseedsofAmaranthusspeciescontainaboutthirtypercentmoreprotei nthancerealsli erice,sorghumandrye.Incoo edandedibleforms,amaranth iscompetitivewithwheatgermandoatshigherinsomenutrients,lowerinoth ers. 5. Itiseasytocoo .Asbefitsitsweedylifehistory,amaranthgrainsgr owveryrapidlyandtheirlargeseedheadscanweighupto1 ilogramandcontain ahalfmillionseedsinthreespeciesofamaranth. Kiwicha,asamaranthis nowntodayintheAndes,wasoneofthestaplefoodstuf fsoftheIncas.KnowntotheAztecsashuautli,itisthoughttohaverepresent edupto80%oftheircaloricconsumptionbeforetheconquest.Anotherimportant useofamaranththroughoutMesoamericawastoprepareritualdrin sandfoods. Tothisday,amaranthgrainsaretoastedmuchli epopcornandmixedwithhoney, molassesorchocolatetoma eatreatcalledalegría,meaning"joy"inSpanish.D iegoDurandescribedthefestivitiesforHuitzilopochtli,abluehummingbirdgod .(Realhummingbirdsfeedonamaranthflowers.)TheAztecmonthofPanquetzalizt li(7Decemberto26December)wasdedicatedtoHuitzilopochtli.Peopledecorate dtheirhomesandtreeswithpaperflags;therewereritualraces,processions, dances,songs,prayers,andfinallyhumansacrifices.Thiswasoneofthemorei mportantAztecfestivals,andthepeoplepreparedforthewholemonth.Theyfast edorateverylittle;astatueofthegodwasmadeoutofamaranth(huautli)se edsandhoney,andattheendofthemonth,itwascutintosmallpiecessoever ybodycouldeatalittlepieceofthegod.AftertheSpanishconquest,cultivati onofamaranthwasoutlawed,whilesomeofthefestivitiesweresubsumedintoth eChristmascelebration. Becauseofitsimportanceasasymbolofindigenousculture,itsglutenfreepal atability,easytocoo ,anditsproteinparticularlywellsuitedtohumannutri tionalneeds,interestingrainamaranth(especiallyA.cruentusandA.hypochon driacus)revivedinthe1970s.ItwasrecoveredinMexicofromwildvarietiesan disnowcommerciallycultivated.Itisapopularsnac soldinMexicoCityand otherpartsofMexico,sometimesmixedwithchocolateorpuffedrice,anditsus