Quinoa: useful properties, use in cooking and folk medicine

Quinoa is a genus of plants of the Marev family. It includes more than 100 species. In natural conditions occurs almost everywhere. Most species are malignant weeds growing near human dwellings, in fields, in vegetable gardens.

Many people know the name of the plant, but they are unlikely to be able to describe it. In such a situation, the question arises as to how the quinoa looks. This is an annual or biennial plant with a straight high stalk up to 1.2 m. Depending on the species, the leaves can have a green, gray-green, yellow or crimson color (red quinoa). The complex shape of the leaf is associated with the tip of the halberd.

Blooms in July with small flowers collected in carpal inflorescences. Flowering lasts more than a month. The plants are dioecious. Seed ripening is uneven, on the lower brushes there are already seeds, and the upper ones only bloom.

Only one species is cultivated: the garden quinoa, which is grown in large numbers in some countries and is actively used for food. It is made from green cabbage soup, cutlets, add to salads and omelettes, sour, pickle, harvested for future use. Often it is seasoned with garlic, parsley and other aromatic herbs, since it does not have the characteristic taste of quinoa.

Its useful properties are that young leaves and shoots are saturated with proteins, carotene, routine, ascorbic acid, potassium. In addition, there are some amino acids in them that are not produced by the human body, but which are necessary to it and are obtained only with food.

By nutritional value is comparable with the mushrooms of quinoa. Useful properties are revealed not only in the green part, but also in seeds, which are also used in cooking, but only after heat treatment. They are added to the flour when making bread, while the product is stored longer. They cook porridge, something that resembles buckwheat in taste.

In folk medicine, unprocessed seeds are used as a laxative and vomiting agent, used for constipation and various kinds of poisoning. Quinoa can be used to prevent infection in a minor wound. Useful properties are manifested when the sheet is applied to the damaged area. Freshly picked and crushed leaves are an excellent anti-inflammatory and wound-healing agent when rotting the nail bed.

The decoctions of this plant have antibacterial activity. They are used in ARVI, inflammation of the skin and GI tract. In old medicines you can find recipes using this plant against hemorrhoids, radiculitis, gout, etc. In the presence of tumors, too, quinoa is used. Useful properties of leaves and flowers, steamed by boiling water and superimposed on the affected area, contribute to reducing pain. Any medicine has a contraindication, it should not be abused, this also applies to the swan.

If desired, you can grow this plant on the garden. Seeds need to be sown about in May, tk. Shoots can not stand frost. Place a sunny pick and preferably soil to fertilize, in this case the leaves will turn out to be the most juicy. Seed germination will take less than a week. For greater tillering, you can prick the tops, and several times. If seeds are needed, then the plant is better to grow in one stem. In the care there is nothing unusual, only watering is mandatory, otherwise the leaves will turn fibrous. They are collected as they grow.

Red quinoa, in addition to using in cooking, is also very decorative. Planting this plant, you can not only heal, enrich your diet, but also to please the eye with a non-standard composition.