Mourning amaranth

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Mourning amaranth
Amaranthus hypochondriacus Prague 2011 1.jpg

Mourning amaranth ( Amaranthus hypochondriacus )

Systematics
Nuclear eudicotyledons
Order : Clove-like (Caryophyllales)
Family : Foxtail family (Amaranthaceae)
Subfamily : Amaranthoideae
Genre : Amaranth ( Amaranthus )
Type : Mourning amaranth
Scientific name
Amaranthus hypochondriacus
L.

Amaranthus hypochondriacus , as an ornamental plant called mourning amaranth or mourning foxtail , is a species of the amaranth genus( Amaranthus ) within the foxtail family(Amaranthaceae). This old cultivated plant comes from southwestern North America or from Central America and is a pseudo-cereal because the seeds can be used in a similar way to cereals, even if the species does not belong to the sweet grasses like the real cereals. The species is, or was until recently,grownin subsistence agriculture in Mexico and at the foot of the Himalayas in East Asia , but is considered to be economically insignificant because of the low harvest. Since the 1980s, however, it has been re-examined for extended cultivation due to some favorable properties, especially as a specialty in industrialized countries. The product is called amaranth and is no different in the trade from those of other Amaranthus species such as the garden foxtail . In addition, the mourning amaranth can also be used as a vegetable .

description

Vegetative characteristics

In Amaranthus hypochondriacus is a one-year , herbaceous plant . In the natural area it reaches heights of growth of around 2 meters (from 0.4 to around 2.5 meters, in China generally smaller). It forms a strong taproot . The upright, ribbed stem is not very branched below the inflorescence and is colored green or tinged with purple; it is bald or with downy hairs above.

The spirally alternate, bare, elliptical to ovate, pinnate, green, sometimes reddish, purple leaves are divided into petioles and leaf blades and have no stipules . The relatively long, furrowed petiole of the lower stem leaves is about as long as the leaf blade, that of the upper one is shorter. The simple leaf blade is 4 to 12 centimeters long and 2 to 7 centimeters wide, rhombic-ovoid to broadly lanceolate, with a wedge-shaped base and a wedge-shaped, blunt or slightly ragged upper end. The edge of the leaf is smooth or slightly wavy.

Generative characteristics

The terminal, up to 45 centimeters long inflorescence (a thyrse ) is leafless at least in the upper parts, mostly it is composed of stiff, rod-like partial inflorescences . Inflorescence and flowers are usually dark purple in color, rarely they can also be red, yellowish or green. The mostly three, like the flowers colored, bracts are lanceolate or narrower (subphrate) with a prickly tip and longer than the inflorescence and stiff.

The almost sessile (subsessile) flowers are always unisexual. The female flowers with three scars have five, the male three to five obovate, top, overlapping tepals , they are about 3 millimeters long and mostly among themselves unequal. The male flowers have five stamens and sit in the upper parts of the inflorescence.

Solitary, spherical ovoid capsules (a pyxidium or utricle) with a ring crack develop from the upper ovary ; these are somewhat larger than the periculum . The lens-like (lenticular), ellipsoidal pseudo cereal seeds are usually colored white, but they can accept maroon of pink through to almost black colors. They are only 1 to 1.5 millimeters in diameter and are smooth and shiny. The dicotyledonous embryo is curved (kampylotropic) and surrounds the starch-rich perisperm median. The thousand grain weight is only 0.4 to 1.1 grams, they are epigeal sprouting.

The basic chromosome number is x = 16, 17; there is diploidy , with a chromosome number of 2n = 32, 34.

Differentiation from related species

Amaranthus hypochondriacus is easiest to distinguish from the cultivated plants Amaranthus caudatus and Amaranthus cruentus by the stiff, non-pendulous partial inflorescences. Differentiate from the partly very similar Amaranthus powellii u. a. the larger partial inflorescences, which in Amaranthus hypochondriacus can exceed 30 centimeters in length

ecology

Amaranthus hypochondriacus belongs to the C4 plants and is a qualitative short-day plant (KTP).

Amaranthus hypochondriacus is a warmth germ that germinates at soil temperatures of 15 to 18 ° C. Amaranthus hypochondriacus is self-pollinating (autogamous) as well as wind pollinating. It grows up to an altitude of 2000 meters, but is not frost-resistant and prefers a permeable, fertile soil in a sunny location, as well as a slightly acidic to alkaline pH value , the temperature range is 10–32 ° C, the precipitation should not be too big.

illustration

Cultivation and history

Remnants of Amaranthus hypochondriacus have been found in a Native American settlement in Arizona dated around 1350 to 1400 AD. A domestication of its kind in this region is believed mainly based on the natural distribution of Amaranthus powellii , considered the wild ancestral species of this crop. A cultivation in subsistence farming by the Pima and Paiute could have taken place here to the late 19th century. In Mexico, Amaranthus hypochondriacus , probably together with the other cultivated Amaranthus species, was called huauhtli by the Aztecs , but at the time of the Spanish conquest it was probably the most cultivated species of the genus. The importance of the species was high, the king Moctezuma II is said to have received tributes from huauhtli from central Mexico , which reached about the same amount as that of maize . Due to the importance of this species in various religious ceremonies, its cultivation was viewed with suspicion by the Spanish colonizers, but continued in remote rural areas into the 20th century. The cultivation in East Asia (under the name bathu or batu ) was at times even more important than that in the original homeland. The species reached Asia by unknown routes; their cultivation was already traditional and common practice when the first western explorers penetrated the region. Linnaeus described this species a second time under the name Amaranthus flavus after herbarium material that had been sent to him from India . Cultivation regions were mainly in India, with a focus on the mountainous countries at the western foot of the Himalayas, but also on the Dekkan Plateau and the island of Sri Lanka . The cultivation was widespread, but almost always on a small scale, often only in garden land or as individual rows between other cultivated plant species, predominantly at altitudes above 1500 meters. Amaranthus hypochondriacus is cultivated on a small scale in tropical Africa. Further information is not available.

In traditional cultivation, Amaranthus hypochondriacus is usually sown in small beds, in the past, for example, in the “floating gardens” of Mexico called Chinampas . The most important growing regions are Guerrero , Michoacán , Morelos , Tlaxcala , Puebla and Oaxaca , as well as Guatemala . In traditional cultivation, the yield is estimated at around 800 to 1500 kilograms per hectare . Fertilized and well-tended crops can yield up to 3000 kilograms per hectare. Amaranthus hypochondriacus thrives best on well-drained, basic or neutral soils . Most of the existing breeding lines and varieties are not well suited for machine harvesting.

In addition to the low subsistence economy, which has been declining for a long time, modern cultivation of the plant species has been considered and examined since around the mid-1980s; Small-scale cultivation is carried out in various countries, including Central Europe, for sale in health food stores or health food stores. Harvest statistics are not available due to the small quantities and the lack of differentiation between the amaranth species. Favorable properties for cultivation are: low water requirement, which is only about half that of wheat or maize. Advantageous properties of the ingredients are: high protein content of the seeds, including the amino acids lysine and methionine . The polyphenols rutin , isoquercitrin and nicotiflorin contained in the plant are said to have a number of health- promoting properties. The high fiber content is also considered beneficial . The content of squalene , which is controversial in its nutritional effect , reaches about 0.5 percent of the weight of the grain; Squalene is said to have beneficial effects on blood cholesterol levels , but has also been linked to a number of health problems. The content of various vitamins is also high.

use

The seeds are ground into flour. These are cooked as porridge, but especially to traditionally baked flat bread, which in Mexico alegrias are called in India chapatis . Since the seeds do not contain gluten , the flour is not suitable for baking bread unmixed. When using, the light-colored seeds are preferred, dark ones (which often go back to cross-breeding with related weed species of the genus) are avoided when sowing. As an alternative, the seeds can also be baked by heating , similar to popcorn made from popcorn , and are used in a similar way to this. In both Mexico and India, the grains are used as a special food at certain festivals and ceremonies. In India, popped grains with honey or syrup are used for desserts called laddoos .

Occurrence in Germany

As a feral cultivated plant, weeping amaranth occurs predominantly subspontaneously in the vicinity of cultivated stands. Real overgrowths and wild occurrences of this kind are nowhere known. In Germany, the mourning amaranth is considered an unstable neophyte

Systematics

The first publication of Amaranthus hypochondriacus took place in 1753 by Carl von Linné after herbarium material , which comes from North America ("habitat in Virginia "). Synonyms for Amaranthus hypochondriacus L. are: Amaranthus chlorostachys subsp. erythrostachys (Moq.) Aellen , Amaranthus flavus L. , Amaranthus frumentaceus Buch.-Ham. ex Roxb. , Amaranthus amardana Buch.-Ham. in Wall. ex Moq. , Amaranthus leucocarpus S.Wats. , Amaranthus leucospermus S.Wats.

Amaranthus powellii S.Wats is considered the wild parent species of the cultivated plant . , a species of southwestern North America, where introgression of Amaranthus cruentus is widely assumed, whereby this species would be of hybridogenic origin; this is supported by genetic analyzes .

Web links

Commons : Mourning Amaranth ( Amaranthus hypochondriacus )  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Bojian Bao, Thomas Borsch, Steven E. Clemants: Amaranthaceae. Amaranthus hypochondriacus. In: Wu Zhengyi, Peter H. Raven, Deyuan Hong (Eds.): Flora of China. Volume 5: Ulmaceae through Basellaceae. Science Press / Missouri Botanical Garden Press, Beijin / St. Louis 2003, ISBN 1-930723-27-X , p. 418.
  2. ^ Robert H. Mohlenbrock: Flowering Plants. SIU Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8093-2380-X , pp. 116, 118 f.
  3. ↑ a b c d G. JH Grubben: Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. 2: Vegetables , Prota, Backhuys, 2004, ISBN 90-5782-148-6 , p. 78 ff.
  4. ^ Sergei L. Mosyakin, Kenneth R. Robertson: Amaranthus. Amaranthus hypochondriacus. In: Flora of North America Editorial Committee (Ed.): Flora of North America North of Mexico. Volume 4: Magnoliophyta: Caryophyllidae. Part 1, Oxford University Press, New York / Oxford 2003, ISBN 0-19-517389-9 , p. 415.
  5. ↑ Colin W. Wrigley et al. a .: Encyclopedia of Food Grains. Vol. 1, Second Edition, Academic Press, 2016, ISBN 978-0-12-803537-5 , pp. 288 f.
  6. ↑ a b mourning amaranth . In: BiolFlor, the database of biological-ecological characteristics of the flora of Germany.
  7. ^ Néstor D. Bayón: Revisión Taxonómica de las Especies Monoicas de Amaranthus (Amaranthaceae): Amaranthus subg. Amaranthus y Amaranthus subg. Albersia. In: Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. Volume 101, Issue 2, 2015, pp. 261–383. doi: 10.3417 / 2010080
  8. ↑ a b c d e f Jonathan D. Sauer: The Grain Amaranths and their Relatives: A revised Taxonomic and Geographic Survey. In: Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. Volume 54, Issue 2, 1967, pp. 103-137, JSTOR 2394998 .
  9. ^ Enoch G. Achigan-Dako, Olga ED Sogbohossou, Patrick Maundu: Current knowledge on Amaranthus spp .: research avenues for improved nutritional value and yield in leafy amaranths in sub-Saharan Africa. In: Euphytica. 2014, doi: 10.1007 / s10681-014-1081-9 .
  10. ↑ Amaranthus hypochondriacus. at Ecoport Ecological Portal Database. accessed on February 22, 2016.
  11. ↑ a b c Ad Hoc Panel of the Advisory Committee on Technology Innovation Board on Science and Technology for International Development Office of International Affairs, National Research Council (Hrsg.): Amaranth - Modern Prospects for an ancient Crop. National Academy Press, Washington DC, 1984, doi: 10.17226 / 19381 .
  12. ↑ CS Kauffman, LE Weber: Grain amaranth. In: J. Janick, JE Simon (Eds.): Advances in new crops. Timber Press, Portland, 1990, pp. 127-139.
  13. ↑ AP Barba de la Rosa, Inge S. Fomsgaard, Bente Laursen, Anne G. Mortensen, L. Olvera-Martınez, C. Silva-Sánchez, A. Mendoza-Herrera, J. González-Castañeda, A. De León-Rodrıguez : Amaranth (Amaranthus hypochondriacus) as an alternative crop for sustainable food production: Phenolic acids and flavonoids with potential impact on its nutraceutical quality. In: Journal of Cereal Science. Volume 49 (1), 2009, pp. 117–121, doi: 10.1016 / j.jcs.2008.07.012 .
  14. ↑ Valéria Maria Caselato-Sousa, Jaime Amaya-Farfán: State of Knowledge on Amaranth Grain: A Comprehensive Review. In: Journal of Food Science. Volume 77, Issue 4, 2012, pp. 93-104, doi: 10.1111 / j.1750-3841.2012.02645.x .
  15. ↑ Amaranthus hypochondriacus L. s. str., mourning amaranth. In: FloraWeb.de.
  16. ^ A b Mihai Costea, Andrew Sanders, Giles Waines: Preliminary Results toward a Revision of the Amaranthus hybridus Species Complex (Amaranthaceae). In: SIDA, Contributions to Botany. Volume 19, Issue 4, 2001, pp. 931-974, JSTOR 41967947 .