ABSTRACT
Amaranthus is a traditional crop planted and utilized particularly by low income groups in Africa, Asia and South America, where it forms an important part of the daily dietary vitamins, minerals and protein. A lot of research has been done in the last two decades on the nutritional value and production requirements of amaranth [1]. Improved varieties have been developed, and amaranth is commercially grown in the U.S. and Mexico. Amaranths have been used in a variety of processed foods such as cereal, breads, crackers and cookies in the U.S. [2], and research on grain amaranths has been extensively carried out in Europe, Russia, India, China, East Africa, Mexico and Central and South America [1]. Vegetable amaranth or “potherbs” are herbaceous annuals [3] used as a staple food or delicacy by both the rural and urban populations, where they play an im portant role in family self-subsistence [4]. Amaranth leaves are an excellent protein, vitamin and fibre source to many tropical, subtropical and temperate region populations at a very low cost.
