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Post by Paddy by Grace on Jun 16, 2009 19:32:37 GMT -7
D.H. Putnam1, E.S. Oplinger2, J.D. Doll2, and E.M. Schulte2 1Center for Alternative Plant & Animal Products, Minnesota Extension Service, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108. 2Departments of Agronomy and Soil Science, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and Cooperative Extension Service, University of Wisconsin - Madison, WI 53706. Nov. 1989.
I. History: Amaranth, an ancient crop originating in the Americas, can be used as a high-protein grain or as a leafy vegetable, and has potential as a forage crop. Grain amaranth species have been important in different parts of the world and at different times for several thousand years. The largest acreage grown was during the height of the Aztec civilization in Mexico in the 1400's. The past two centuries grain amaranth has been grown in scattered locations, including Mexico, Central America, India, Nepal, China, and Eastern Africa. Research on amaranth by U.S. agronomists began in the 1970's, so optimum production guidelines and uniform, adapted varieties have not yet been fully developed. A few thousand acres of amaranth are commercially grown in the United States, and markets for that small acreage are fragile but developing each year. Acreage has increased during the 1980s. Growers are advised to begin with a few acres, and to have a contract or identify buyers before planting the crop. II. Uses: A. Food Uses: Grain amaranth has been used for food by humans in a number of ways. The most common usage is to grind the grain into a flour for use in breads, noodles, pancakes, cereals, granola, cookies, or other flour-based products. The grain can be popped like popcorn or flaked like oatmeal. More than 40 products containing amaranth are currently on the market in the U.S.A. B. Nutritional Value: One of the reasons there has been recent interest in amaranth is because of its useful nutritional qualities. The grain has 12 to 17% protein, and is high in lysine, an essential amino acid in which cereal crops are low. Amaranth grown at Arlington, WI in 1978 had protein levels of 16.6 to 17.5%. The grain is high in fiber and low in saturated fats, factors which contribute to its use by the health food market. Recent studies have linked amaanth to reduction in cholesterol in laboratory animals. C. Forage Uses: Little is known about the production and utilization of amaranth as a forage. The leaves, stem and head are high in protein (15-24% on a dry matter basis). A Minnesota study (1 year) on amaranth forage indicated a yield potential of 4-5 tons/acre dry matter, with crude protein of the whole plant at 19% (late vegetative stage) to 11-12% (maturity) on a dry basis. A relative of grain amaranth, redroot pigweed, (Amaranthus retroflexus), has been shown to have 24% crude protein and 79% in vitro digestible dry matter. Pigweeds are known nitrate accumulators, and amaranth responds similarly. Vegetable amaranths, which are closely related, produced 30 to 60 tons/a of silage (80% moisture) on plots in Iowa. In areas where corn silage yields are low due to moisture limitations, grain amaranth may become a suitable silage alternative after further research. III. Growth Habits: The two species of grain amaranth commonly grown in the U.S. are Amaranthus cruentus and Amaranthus hypochondriacus. Grain amaranths are related to redroot pigweed, but are different species with different characteristics and have not become weeds in fields where they have been grown. The grain amaranths have large colorful seed heads and can produce over 1000 pounds of grain per acre in the upper Midwest, though a portion of this grain yield may be lost in harvesting. Grain amaranth plants are about five to seven feet tall when mature, and are dicots (broadleaf) plants with thick, tough stems similar to sunflower. The tiny, lens-shaped seeds are one millimeter in diameter and usually white to cream-colored, while the seeds of the pigweed are dark-colored and lighter in weight. IV. Environment Requirements: A. Climate: Amaranthus is a widely adapted genus, and can be grown throughout the Midwestern and Western U.S. Grain amaranth is reportedly drought-tolerant, similar to sorghum, provided there is sufficient moisture to establish the crop. Amaranth responds well to high sunlight and warm temperatures. Early season frost damage is not a problem because the crop is not sown until late May or early June. However, frost plays an important role in the harvest of the crop. Since amaranth is an annual crop native to the southern latitudes of North America, it does not mature completely in the upper Midwest's short growing season. A frost is usually necessary to kill the crop so that the plant material will be dry enough to harvest. V. Cultural Practices: A. Seedbed Preparation: Seeds are very small, so it is important to have a fine, firm seedbed. Seedbed preparation can be done with a field cultivator or disk; followed by cultipacking or spiketooth harrow and planting, preferably using a planter with press wheels. Seeds should be planted no more than 1/2 inch deep, depending on soil texture and surface moisture at planting time. Heavy textured soils should be avoided. If crusting is a problem, rotary hoeing at a slow speed may be helpful. Poor emergence, as low as 50%, is not uncommon, Since seeds are shallow planted, there is potential for them to wash out on sloping ground. B. Seeding Date: The crop is usually sown in late May or early June when the soil temperature is at least 65°F, and after early weed flushes have been controlled.1 C. Method and Rate of Seeding: An optimum plant population has not been established, but one-half to two pounds of seed per acre is considered suitable (approximately 600,000 seeds per pound). Row spacing should be based on the cultivator equipment available. A number of planter types have been used successfully to deal with the small seeds of amaranth. Approaches that have proven successful include: using a vegetable planter with a small plate appropriate for carrots or celery; installing special amaranth seed plates in a sugar beet planter; using the in-furrow insecticide application equipment as a planter; or using a standard grain drill. Grain drills are not recommended due to problems in controlling seeding rate and depth, but they can be used if the amaranth seeds are diluted with a "carrier" like ground corn. A mixture suitable for drilling consists of one-half pound of amaranth with four and one-half pounds of ground corn. Set the drill for a seeding rate of five pounds per acre. D. Fertility and Lime Requirements: Little data are currently available on the pH and fertility requirements of amaranth. Amaranth is adapted to soils that are slightly acidic to slightly basic (pH 6.5 to 7.5). Consideration of the pH requirement of rotational crops should also influence the lime recommendation for amaranth. The fertility requirements of amaranth appear to be intermediate between small grains and corn and probably are similar to sunflower. Soil P and K should test in the medium to high range (30 to 75 lbs. P and 160 to 240 lbs. K per acre, depending on subsoil fertility group). Test the soil and apply any corrective P2O5 or K2O recommended on the soil test report.2 Maintenance fertilizer equivalent- to crop removal should be applied to maintain soil test P and K levels. A crop yielding 1200 lbs/a grain will remove about 36 lbs of N, 7 lbs of P, and 6 lbs of K per acre and various amounts of calcium and magnesium and micronutricnts. However, amounts greater than those are needed to sustain high yield levels. Requirements are higher when amaranth is harvested for silage because virtually the entire above-ground portion is removed. For example, the total N uptake of the amaranth plant is about 90 lbs/a. Suggested maintenance recommendations are 75 lbs N, 25 lbs P2O5 and 40 lbs K2O per acre. If soil organic matter exceeds 5%, apply 50 lbs N/A, if less than 1.5% organic matter, use 100 lbs N/A. Credits for a preceding legume crop and use of manure should be subtracted from these recommendations. E. Variety Selection: Uniform varieties of grain amaranth have not yet been fully developed. Available material consists of selected lines which vary in their uniformity and degree of adaption to temperate latitudes. Researchers at the Rodale Research Center in Pennsylvania and the USDA Plant Introduction Station at Ames, Iowa, have done significant work in developing amaranth varieties and cataloging germplasm. Rodale Research Center has distributed a number of lines including some that have been grown successfully in Minnesota (e.g. K343, K266, and K432). University of Minnesota trials'at Rosemount from 1977 to 1989 showed yields from 300 to 3800 lbs/a for the 20 lines tested. Amaranth seed is also available commercially (see Table 1). Table 1: Sources of grain amaranth seed.1 American Amaranth, Inc., P.O. Box 196, Bricelyn, MN, 56014 (507-653-4377) Terrance Cunningham, R.R. 1, Box 255 Twin Lakes, MN, 56089 (507-852-3465) Johnny's Selected Seeds, Albion, ME, 049 10 (207-437-4301) Nu-World Amaranth, Inc., P.O. Box 2202 Naperville, IL, 60540 (312-369-6819) Calvin Oliverius, P.O. Box 25, Albin, WY, 82050 (307-246-3270) Plants of the Southwest 1812 Second St., Santa Fe, NM 87501 (505-983-1548) Soaring Eagle Seeds, P.O. Box 94, Shawmut, MT. 59078 (406-632-4528) 1This is a partial listing and does not imply endorsement of the seed quality. F. Weed Control: 1. Mechanical: Since amaranth is not planted until late May or early June, many weeds will already have emerged. These early weeds must be controlled by tilling the field prior to planting. Grain amaranths grow slowly during the first several weeks after planting, so three or four cultivations may be needed during this period to control weeds. Once the amaranth plant is about a foot tall, it begins to grow rapidly and is very competitive with weeds. Two species of weeds which are especially competitive with amaranth are lambsquarter and pigweed. Fields with high populations of these weeds should not be used for amaranth production. Since grain amaranth seeds do not undergo dormancy, and because plant growth is not vigorous early in the season, it is unlikely that grain amaranth will be a weed problem in succeeding crops. 2. Chemical: No herbicides are labeled for use with amaranth. G. Diseases and Their Control: Researchers and growers have observed little in the way of major disease problems. Further problems may develop as the acreage of amaranth increases. Damping-off of young seedlings can be a problem under some conditions, caused by Pythim and Rhizoctonia and stem canker, caused by Phorma or Rhizoctonia. H. Insects and Other Predators and Their Control: Tarnished plant bug, flea beetle, and amaranth weevil, are potentially significant insect pests of amaranth. The insect most likely to affect yields is the tarnished plant bug, (Lygus), a sucking insect which often reaches high populations in the seed head during the critical seed fill stage. Flea beetles damage young leaf tissue. The adult amaranth weevil feeds on leaves, but the larval stage is more damaging because they bore into the central tissue of roots and occasionally stems, causing rotting and potentially lodging. It is currently unknown whether our insect control measures are cost-effective, but significant loss of yield and quality due to Lygus damage has been observed. I. Harvesting: Harvest is the most critical stage in grain amaranth production. Without careful harvest techniques, it is possible to lose or damage the majority of the seed. A killing frost must occur before harvest followed by a week of good drying weather (there are no approved desiccants for amaranth). If the stems and leaves are too wet, the seeds become sticky and adhere to the inside of the combine as well as the straw discharge. Shattering during the cutting process can also cause losses, so adjustments should be made to minimize shattering of the heads. When reel heads are used it may be helpful to remove several reel bats or raise the height of the reel. Row headers perform better than reel heads for combining amaranth. High cylinder speed can damage grain and reduce germination and popping volume. Conventional combines can be used if fitted with appropriately-sized separator screens. J. Drying and Storage: Grain handling and storage plans should be developed before harvest begins. It is important to clean the grain to remove plant and foreign material which will increase the chance of molding. Cleaning can be done using a 1/16 inch screen top, and a 1/23 inch screen, 22 × 22, or 24 × 24 wire mesh on the bottom. A gravity table can be used to separate particles of the same size but of different weight, such as the dark pigweed seeds. Maximum moisture for storing the grain is approximately 11%. Small amounts of grain can be dried by blowing air across the amaranth; heated air may be necessary at certain times. The optimum way to store the grain after cleaning and drying is in wooden storage bins or in heavy duty (4 or 5 ply) paper bags. University studies at Rosemount, Minnesota showed average test weight of 63 pounds per bushel. VI. Yield Potential and Performance Results: University of Minnesota trials at Rosemount conducted from 1977 to 1989 showed yields from 300 to 3800 lbs/a on hand-harvested plots. Realistic yields from combine-harvested plots range from 600-1500 lbs/a. VII. Economics of Production and Markets: Perhaps the greatest problem facing the development of amaranth as a crop is finding markets. The crop has only been grown commercially during the 1980's, and the markets are. still very small. The primary market for amaranth is the food industry, where it is used in 40-50 products. A farmer entering the market with grain from several hundred acres of amaranth could cause a surplus and drastically lower prices. For this reason amaranth should be grown only after identifying a market for the crop, and preferably after arranging a contract with a buyer. Farmers have marketed their crop in a number of ways. Some sell small bags of the whole grain or flour mail-order to consumers. Many of these purchasers are allergic to wheat products. Other growers sell to local or regional health food stores or restaurants. There are also a few who buy grain from the farmers and market it to the larger health food companies. Companies that have developed grain amaranth products include Health Valley Natural Foods, Arrow Mills, Walnut Acres, Nu-World Amaranth, and American Amaranth, Inc. VIII. Information Sources: Amaranth Grain Production Guide" produced by the Rodale Research Center (RD 1, Box 323, Kutztown, PA 19530) and the American Amaranth Institute (Box 216 Bricelyn, MN 56097). Amaranth - Modern Prospects for Ancient Crop". 1984. National Academy Press, Washington, D.C. Amaranth, Quinoa, Ragi Tef, and Niger: Tiny Seeds of Ancient History and Modern Interest" (1986) Minnesota Experiment Station Bulletin AD-SB-2949, St. Paul, MN. Growing Grain Amaranth As A Specialty Crop" by Robert L. Meyers and Daniel H. Putnam, Center for Alternative Crops & Products, Minnesota Extension Service, AG-FS-3458, 1988. University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN. Footnotes: lAmaranth seedlings are very sensitive to frost; the crop should be sown after all danger of frost is past. 2Until further studies on amaranth fertility needs are completed, nitrogen recommendations for sunflower are reasonable approximations. Amaranth is very responsive to nitrogen application, but can lodge severely under high nitrogen soil conditions.
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Post by Paddy by Grace on Jun 16, 2009 19:33:28 GMT -7
Amaranth: a Healthy Grain for Vegetarian Recipes
by Karen Railey Author of the popular "How to" guide, How to Improve Fading Memory and Thinking Skills with Nutrition. Amaranth (Amaranthus) has a colorful history, is highly nutritious, and the plant itself is extremely attractive and useful. Amaranth was a staple in the diets of pre-Columbian Aztecs, who believed it had supernatural powers and incorporated it into their religious ceremonies. Before the Spanish conquest in 1519, amaranth was associated with human sacrifice and the Aztec women made a mixture of ground amaranth seed, honey or human blood then shaped this mixture into idols that were eaten ceremoniously. This practice appalled the conquistadors who reasoned that eliminating the amaranth would also eliminate the sacrifices. The grain was forbidden by the Spanish, and consequently fell into obscurity for hundreds of years. If not for the fact that the cultivation of amaranth continued in a few remote areas of the Andes and Mexico, it may have become extinct and completely lost to us. Amaranth is used in various cultures in some very interesting ways. In Mexico it is popped and mixed with a sugar solution to make a confection called "alegria" (happiness), and milled and roasted amaranth seed is used to create a traditional Mexican drink called "atole." Peruvians use fermented amaranth seed to make "chicha" or beer. In the Cusco area the flowers are used to treat toothache and fevers and as a food colorant for maize and quinoa. During the carnival festival women dancers often use the red amaranth flower as rouge, painting their cheeks, then dancing while carrying bundles of amaranth on their backs as they would a baby. In both Mexico and Peru the amaranth leaves are gathered then used as a vegetable either boiled or fried. In India amaranth is known as "rajeera" (the King’s grain) and is popped then used in confections called "laddoos," which are similar to Mexican "alegria." In Nepal, amaranth seeds are eaten as gruel called "sattoo" or milled into flour to make chappatis. In Ecuador, the flowers are boiled then the colored boiling water is added to "aquardeinte" rum to create a drink that "purifies the blood," and is also reputed to help regulate the menstrual cycle. Since 1975 amaranth has been gaining support in the U.S. and is now grown in Colorado, Illinois, Nebraska, and other states, but is still not a mainstream food. It is found in many natural food stores and the flour is often used in baked goods. The name amaranth hails from the Greek for "never-fading flower." The plant is an annual herb, not a "true" grain and is a relative of pigweed, a common wild plant also known as lamb’s-quarters, as well as the garden plant we know as Cockscomb. There are approximately 60 species of amaranth and there is no definite distinction between amaranth grown for the leaf (vegetable), and the seed (grain). Amaranth is a bushy plant that grows 5 to 7 feet, with broad leaves and a showy flower head of small, red or magenta, clover like flowers which are profuse, and constitute the plants exquisite, feathery plumes. The seed heads resemble corn tassels, but are somewhat bushier. They are quite striking as well. The seeds are tiny (1/32"), lens shaped, and are a golden to creamy tan color, sprinkled with some occasional dark colored seeds. Each plant is capable of producing 40,000 to 60,000 seeds. The leaves of ornamental varieties, such as Joseph’s Coat resemble the coleus plant and are quite striking. Their coloring can range from deep red, purple-red, orange, pink, green, to white. The sight of a full-grown amaranth field with its vividly colored leaves, stems and flower or seed heads is an amazingly beautiful sight that evokes much emotion. Aside from amaranth being such an attractive plant it is extremely adaptable to adverse growing conditions. It resists heat and drought, has no major disease problems, and is among the easiest of plants to grow. Simply scratching the soil, throwing down some seeds, and watering will reward you with some of these lovely plants. Amaranth can be cooked as a cereal, ground into flour, popped like popcorn, sprouted, or toasted. The seeds can be cooked with other whole grains, added to stir-fry or to soups and stews as a nutrient dense thickening agent. Amaranth flour is used in making pastas and baked goods. It must be mixed with other flours for baking yeast breads, as it contains no gluten. One part amaranth flour to 3-4 parts wheat or other grain flours may be used. In the preparation of flatbreads, pancakes and pastas, 100% amaranth flour can be used. Sprouting the seeds will increase the level of some of the nutrients and the sprouts can be used on sandwiches and in salads, or just to munch on. To cook amaranth boil 1 cup seeds in 2-1/2 cups liquid such as water or half water and half stock or apple juice until seeds are tender, about 18 to 20 minutes. Adding some fresh herbs or gingerroot to the cooking liquid can add interesting flavors or mix with beans for a main dish. For a breakfast cereal increase the cooking liquid to 3 cups and sweeten with Stevia, honey or brown rice syrup and add raisins, dried fruit, allspice and some nuts. Amaranth has a "sticky" texture that contrasts with the fluffier texture of most grains and care should be taken not to overcook it as it can become "gummy." Amaranth flavor is mild, sweet, nutty, and malt like, with a variance in flavor according to the variety being used. Amaranth keeps best if stored in a tightly sealed container, such as a glass jar, in the refrigerator. This will protect the fatty acids it contains from becoming rancid. The seeds should be used within 3 to 6 months. The leaves of the amaranth plant taste much like spinach and are used in the same manner that spinach is used. They are best if consumed when the plant is young and tender. Amaranth seed is high in protein (15-18%) and contains respectable amounts of lysine and methionine, two essential amino acids that are not frequently found in grains. It is high in fiber and contains calcium, iron, potassium, phosphorus, and vitamins A and C. The fiber content of amaranth is three times that of wheat and its iron content, five times more than wheat. It contains two times more calcium than milk. Using amaranth in combination with wheat, corn or brown rice results in a complete protein as high in food value as fish, red meat or poultry. Amaranth also contains tocotrienols (a form of vitamin E) which have cholesterol-lowering activity in humans. Cooked amaranth is 90% digestible and because of this ease of digestion, it has traditionally been given to those recovering from an illness or ending a fasting period. Amaranth consists of 6-10% oil, which is found mostly within the germ. The oil is predominantly unsaturated and is high in linoleic acid, which is important in human nutrition. The amaranth seeds have a unique quality in that the nutrients are concentrated in a natural "nutrient ring" that surrounds the center, which is the starch section. For this reason the nutrients are protected during processing. The amaranth leaf is nutritious as well containing higher calcium, iron, and phosphorus levels than spinach. For something new, different, and highly nutritious in your diet, try amaranth and have some fun experimenting and discovering your favorite ways to use it. If you would like to learn more about whole grains and their uses, you may wish to try one of these books. They are available at Amazon and can be purchased through Health and Beyond Online by simply clicking on the title. Complete Whole Grain Cookbook, Aveline Kushi All American Waves of Grain: How to Buy, Store, and Cook Every Imaginable Grain, Barbara Grunes Amazing Grains: Creating Main Dishes With Whole Grains, Joanne Saltzman Amaranth with Spinach Tomato Mushroom Sauce 1 cup amaranth seed 2-12 cups water 1 Tablesthingy olive oil 1 bunch spinach (or young amaranth leaves if available) 2 ripe tomatoes, skinned and coarsely chopped 1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced 1-1/2 teasthingys basil 1-1/2 teasthingys oregano 1 clove of garlic minced 1 Tablesthingy onion, minced Sea salt and pepper to taste (or use a salt substitute) Add amaranth to boiling water, bring back to boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 18-20 minutes. While amaranth is cooking, stem and wash spinach, then simmer until tender. Dip tomatoes into boiling water to loosen skin, then peel and chop. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat and add garlic an onion. Sauté approximately 2 minutes. Add tomato, mushrooms, basil, oregano, salt, pepper and 1 Tablesthingy of water. Drain and chop spinach and add to tomato mixture. Cook an addition 10 – 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Lightly mash tomato as it is cooking. Stir the sauce into the amaranth or sthingy it on top. Amaranth "Grits" 1 cup amaranth 1 clove garlic, finely chopped or pressed 1 medium onion, finely chopped 3 cups water or vegetable stock Sea salt or soy sauce to taste Hot sauce to taste Garnish: 2 plum tomatoes Combine the amaranth, garlic, onion, and stock in a 2-quart saucepan. Boil; reduce heat and simmer covered until most of the liquid has been absorbed, about 20 minutes. Stir well. If the mixture is too thin or the amaranth not quite tender (it should be crunchy, but not gritty hard), boil gently while stirring constantly until thickened, about 30 seconds. Add salt or soy sauce to taste. Stir in a few drops of hot sauce, if desired, and garnish with chopped tomatoes.
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Post by Paddy by Grace on Jun 16, 2009 19:34:39 GMT -7
Amaranth seeds are tan or light brown in color and are about the size of poppy seeds. Not a true cereal grain, Amaranth is sometimes called a ‘pseudo-grain’ and has been referred to as a herb or even a vegetable. There are 60 species of Amaranth on the planet. With it’s own genus classification, Amaranthus, Amaranth is a relative of the common pigweed. Some of these species of Amaranth are grown for their spinach-like leaves which are eaten as a salad while other species are grown only for ornamental or decorative purposes. And lastly, still other species produce the tiny seeds that are so nutritious. Sold mostly in health food stores, Amaranth is an extremely nutritious grain that is just becoming known in North America. Amaranth has a long and interesting history in Mexico where it's been grown and harvested for thousands of years by the Mayan and Incan civilizations. The Aztecs believed Amaranth had magical properties that would give them amazing strength. Because of this, it became one of the main foods of the Aztec royalty. Amaranth also held an intricate role in some of their ancient rituals. In one ritual, the seeds were crushed open, then honey and human blood were added followed by forming this reddish paste into the shapes of birds and snakes then baking it. With the coming of the Spanish into the Americas, this abominable practice was abolished. Every crop of Amaranth that could be found was burned. Punishment for possession of the grain became so harsh that even having one seed was punished by chopping off the hands. Amaranth quickly became a ‘lost’ seed for many generations. Presently, Amaranth is grown in Mexico, Peru and Nepal as well as in the United States. Amaranth’s great nutritional qualities are the driving force powering it’s comeback. It’s high in protein, particularly in the amino acid, Lysine, which is low in the cereal grains. In fact, Amaranth has the highest lysine content of all the grains in this study with Quinoa coming in a close second. To make your whole wheat bread a complete protein, substitute about 25% of your wheat flour with Amaranth flour. Amaranth, by itself, has a really nice amino acid blend. Just 150 grams of the grain is all that’s required to supply an adult with 100% of the daily requirement of protein. Amaranth is one of the highest grains in fiber content. This makes Amaranth an effective agent against cancer and heart disease. Amaranth is also the only grain in this study that contains significant amounts of phytosterols which scientists are just now learning play a major part in the prevention of all kinds of diseases. Amaranth is also rich in many vitamins and minerals. The following table lists only the nutrients in Amaranth that are higher than those found in wheat. As nutritious as wheat is, you can see that Amaranth puts it to shame... Nutrients in 100 Grams of Amaranth Unit Amount % More of In ThanNutrient Measure Amaranth Wheat Food energy KCal: 374.000 114Protein Gms: 14.450 115Total lipid (fat) Gms: 6.510 423Total saturated fat Gms: 1.662 618Ttl monounsaturated fat Gms: 1.433 717Ttl polyunsaturated fat Gms: 2.891 461Total dietary fiber Gms: 15.200 121Ascorbic acid Mg : 4.200 InfiniteRiboflavin Mg : 0.208 181Folacin Mcg: 49.000 129Potassium Mg : 366.000 101Calcium Mg : 153.000 528Phosphorus Mg : 455.000 158Magnesium Mg : 266.000 211Iron Mg : 7.590 238Zinc Mg : 3.180 120Copper Mg : 0.777 179Palmitic acid (16:0) Gms: 1.284 549Oleic acid (18:1) Gms: 1.433 746Linoleic acid (18:2/n6) Gms: 2.834 472Phytosterols Mg : 24.000 InfiniteHistidine Gms: 0.389 136Isoleucine Gms: 0.582 127Leucine Gms: 0.879 103Lysine Gms: 0.747 223Methionine Gms: 0.226 112Threonine Gms: 0.558 153Tryptophan Gms: 0.181 113Valine Gms: 0.679 122Arginine Gms: 1.060 178Alanine Gms: 0.799 176
Amaranth must be cooked before it is eaten because it contains components in it’s raw form that block the absorption of some nutrients in our digestive system. You should cook Amaranth whether you plan on giving it to your family or your pets. For those of you who are allergic to wheat, Amaranth can be your grain of choice. However, Amaranth contains no gluten and because of this, it’s not good for making yeast breads by itself. Mixed with 75% wheat flour and 25% Amaranth flour, the resulting dough should give you a nice rising loaf of bread. However, for breads that don't require gluten to raise such as biscuits, muffins, pancakes, pastas or flat breads, you can go as high as 100% Amaranth flour. Amaranth can be boiled for 20 minutes in it’s whole seed form for a morning breakfast cereal. It can also be ground raw or for added flavor, it can be toasted before grinding. Try popping it like you would pop popcorn. Popped Amaranth’s uses are many as they add texture and crunchiness to breads, salads, soups and granola. Whole seed, cooked Amaranth also goes well in soups, granolas and as already mentioned, mixes well with wheat flour to make a myriad of different baked goods. Amaranth flour also makes a nice thickener for gravies, soups and stews. Sprouted Amaranth goes well in salads or prepared cereals. As Amaranth contains fairly high levels of poly-unsaturated fats, it’s a good idea to store them in your refrigerator after opening the container. For long term storage, package them with oxygen absorbers in an air-tight container which should extend their storage life for several years if stored in a cool place. Having a hard outer shell, Amaranth should store better than Quinoa or buckwheat which have similar nutritional qualities but have a softer, more permeable shell. We think you will enjoy experimenting with this ancient grain and will be excited with it’s wholesome flavor and the excellent nutrition it will provide for your family.
Barley -- Hulled Barley Pearl Barley Much like rye, barley can grow in harsh conditions and poor soils where other grains wouldn't produce well. Being an ancient grain, barley was one of the first grains domesticated, even before wheat was cultivated. Not used as much as it once was as a food, barley is still a very important crop in today’s market place. Today, barley is primarily used as animal feed and for making malt in the making of beer. However, on a smaller scale, barley can be processed for human consumption in the form of pot or hulled barley, pearled barley and barley flakes. Barley's nutrition is much like wheat's. There are a few minor differences, however. Barley contains twice as many fatty acids as wheat which accounts for its 10% higher calorie count. And as great as wheat’s fiber content is, barley contains about 40% more, or over 17%. Barley contains vitamin E; wheat contains none. And barley contains 68% more thiamin, 250% more riboflavin and 38% more lysine than wheat, giving barley a more balanced protein. Whole barley must be prepared for human consumption because of it’s hard, fibrous hull that is not easily removed. Only buy barley in it's whole form if you want to sprout it and eat it as barley grass. Processors use an abrasive machine to remove the hull making it safe to eat. At this stage it’s called hulled or pot barley. In this processed form, the germ has been damaged to the point that it will no longer sprout. Pearled barley, which is hulled barley with the ends of the kernel removed so it’s round in shape is another popular way you can get barley. Pearled barley has it’s germ and much of the bran around the endosperm removed. This is where many of the vitamins and minerals are found and because of this, it’s nutritional qualities are down about 25%-33% from what you generally find in hulled barley. But pearled barley cooks up much quicker which is it’s big advantage. Both pearled barley and hulled barley are primarily used in soups and stews where they fluff up to almost the size of a pea. Some people also cook a pot of hulled or pearled barley and eat it as a breakfast cereal. It's also sometimes an ingredient in vegetable stuffing or used in pilafs. You can make barley flour at home by putting hulled or pearled barley though your grain grinder. Barley flour has a weaker gluten than wheat flour so when making yeast breads, you will not want to add more than 50% barley flour to your wheat flour. In some parts of the world such as Scotland and Ireland, barley flour plays a predominant part in their baking. Barley flour adds a nutty and appealing flavor to your baked goods. When making pancakes, biscuits and rolls, you can use 100% barley flour and still get good results. Barley 'flakes' are made by rolling hulled barley. It looks almost identical to rolled oats and can be used like rolled oats in making cooked breakfast cereal. Barley flakes are also a perfect ingredient for granola. A few barley flakes mixed with bread dough gives your breads a unique texture and makes them even more healthy with a robust appearance and an enhanced flavor. For the qualities barley possesses it is far under-used in North America today. Inexpensive in price, barley in it’s many forms can be used to add wholesome, nutritional goodness to the vast majority of foods you cook every day.
Buckwheat It is believed that buckwheat was first domesticated in China. As it spread across Asia and Europe during the centuries, it took a particularly strong hold in Russia where kasha is popular. A relatively new grain, it hasn't been in cultivation for much more than a thousand years. Saying it's a grain is a misstatement as it's not really a grain at all. It's actually, technically, a fruit. It's a hardy plant that thrives in poor soil conditions and continues to live through freezing temperatures, droughts and excess rain. The unprocessed, three-sided buckwheat seed has a thick, hard outer hull that must be mechanically removed before it's ready to eat which is the way it's sold. After the seed has been de-hulled, the inner seed or groat has a light brown or light green coloring and is so soft that it can be easily chewed. Having a distinctive, pleasant, rich flavor all it's own, 100% buckwheat flour makes delicious pancakes. Mixed with wheat flour, buckwheat makes great tasting biscuits, muffins and breads and can be mixed up to 50% with wheat flour for making yeast breads. In Eastern Europe, the groats are toasted and are known as kasha. Commercial food processors mix buckwheat flour with other flours to make pancake mixes, breakfast cereals, breads and turkey stuffing. In Europe, buckwheat groats are used whole in hot cereals and soups. They can also be boiled until they become soft and fluffy and then eaten like rice. The Orient is the largest user of North American grown buckwheat where it's used to make sorba noodles. Whole grain buckwheat is an amazingly nutritious food. Even though it's protein is relatively low at approximately 11%, the protein buckwheat does have contains the eight essential amino acids and is one of the few "grains" (remember that buckwheat isn't a grain at all) high in lysine. If you use half buckwheat flour with your wheat flour, the buckwheat's amino acids will round out the limiting amino acids in your wheat nicely, giving you a nearly perfect balance of the 8 essential amino acids. This particular balance between half wheat and half buckwheat flour is much more closely aligned to your dietary needs even than lean beef!!! It's also rich in many of the B vitamins as well as the minerals; phosphorus, magnesium, iron, zinc, copper and manganese. In addition to this, it's a good oil source of Linoleic acid, one of the two essential fatty acids we must have to be healthy. Nutritionally speaking, buckwheat is a truly impressive food. Buckwheat contains rather volatile essential fats inside the seed that aren't protected very well after the air-tight hull has been removed. It isn't a good storing grain unless precautions are taken to remove the oxygen. Like brown rice, oxygen makes the essential oils in the seed go rancid, giving it a bad taste and making it unfit to eat. So, when storing buckwheat for long term storage, be sure you place it in airtight containers and use oxygen absorber technology which should give it a long storage life. The buckwheat plant is also very useful as honey bees love it's flowers for making dark, rich flavored honey. And farmers also use it as a green fertilizer. Just a couple of years ago, buckwheat hull pillows were the rage. You can still find buckwheat hull pillows advertised in different catalogs. These pillows are famous for providing a soft yet cool pillow that permits the skin next to the pillow to breath. Buckwheat is certainly a versatile plant and is definitely a seed worth storing to round out the nutrition in your food supply - especially if you'd prefer not to eat beans to get that lysine to augment your wheat.
Yellow Dent Corn Talk with most any corn farmer and he will most likely argue, should the subject come up, that corn is the most important grain in production today. There is twice as much field corn grown in the US than any other single grain. Aside from eating the kernel itself, corn starch was the first discovered alternate use for field corn. Soon after this, developers learned how to turn corn starch into fructose sugar, the most popular beverage sweetener in North America today which is twice as sweet as regular table sugars. From this humble beginning, literally thousands of other uses for corn have been discovered. This list includes ethanol alcohol, cosmetic and skin care products, drugs, batteries, rubber, beverages, crayons, soaps, absorbent materials for diapers, food additives, biodegradable plastics, food supplements and the list goes on and on. Many believe that corn, more than any other grain during this new century, will be instrumental in feeding the world's ever growing population. Another name for Yellow Dent Corn is 'field corn.' Field corn is quite a different product than what most North Americans have become accustomed to; sweet corn. Sweet corn, the corn we eat as a vegetable, has a very thin skin. Sweet corn is loaded with sugars which is harvested before the kernels mature. The field corn called yellow dent, has a very thick outer skin that doesn't soften up to the point you can eat it even if you cook it for hours. There's really only two ways to eat it - grind it dry into a meal, or by using a lye, remove the skin and eat it as hominy. Many years ago Indians soaked their corn for hours in water that had been seeped through wood ashes containing potassium hydroxide. The kernels puffed up which broke the outer shell open. The resulting food had a unique flavor, tasting nothing like corn. Native American cultures have been soaking field corn in wood ash water for centuries to remove the outer husk making the whole kernel - minus the husk - edible without grinding it. This whole hominy was then used in soups and stews, or dried and ground into masa and was then used to make tortillas, tamales or pikki bread. It was also coarsely ground to make hominy grits. It's fascinating how, knowing nothing about nutrition, natural means have been developed among peoples to get their nutrition from foods. This process of using some type of caustic agent to remove the outer husk of the corn kernel is yet another example. Corn contains enough niacin to prevent it's deficiency disease, pellagra from forming. But it's in an unusable form! However, the lye treatment the natives have been using for centuries to remove the outer skin frees up this niacin so the body can absorb it. It's too bad that Old World descendant Americans living in the Deep South during the 1920s and 1930s didn't learn this simple lesson as so many of them suffered from pellagra during that period of time. Several caustic solutions can be used to remove the husks, turning yellow dent corn into whole hominy. Commercial enterprises presently use common lye, or sodium hydroxide. Quicklime, which is calcium oxide, or slaked lime, otherwise known as calcium hydroxide or pickling lime also works well for this process and adds the nutrient, calcium to the end product. Yellow dent corn gets it's name from the inward 'dent' on each side of the kernel and is the primary corn used by the large food manufacturers in making a myriad of products including corn chips, tortillas and taco shells. Yellow dent corn has a relatively soft, inner starchy layer which grinds nicely into a powder. The other variety of field corn, called flint corn, of which popcorn is a close relative, has a very hard starchy interior. Popcorn and flint corn can also be ground into a flour but their hard starch tends to shatter rather than mush into a powder. Because of this, the flint type corns make more of a gritty flour. The cornmeal you buy in the store is also most likely made from yellow dent corn. However, nutritionally speaking, there's a big difference between the corn meal you can buy in the store and freshly ground corn meal you grind yourself at home. There's a couple of reasons for this. In store-bought corn flour or meal, the outer skin (a great source of fiber) and the germ which is loaded with nutrients has been removed. The grain millers particularly like to remove the germ as it contains the oils that quickly go rancid - something they don't want to happen before you get their cornmeal home and used. Unfortunately, it also contains many of the vitamins and minerals that make corn so healthy. And just like white wheat flour, because they have taken so many nutrients out during the milling process, they'll chuck some cheap, un-chelated minerals back in to make it look like the customer is buying a healthy product. Corn has sometimes gotten a bad rap as not being a very nutritious food. Like the majority of the other cereal grains, corn is low in lysine. And it's marginally low in Isoleucine and the amino acid combination Methionine and Cystine as well. However, if you add just 50 grams of soybeans to 100 grams of yellow dent corn (dry weight) it more than rounds out an adult male's one day requirement for the essential amino acids. For the weight conscious among us, this works out to only 565 calories. Not bad! Corn also contains goodly quantities of many B vitamins and the minerals Phosphorus, Magnesium, Iron, Zinc and the essential Linoleic Acid. Corn's 72% starch content makes it a high energy food. Corn contains adequate amounts of vitamin A, the highest of any cereal grain. It goes almost without mention that corn and legumes (two complementary foods that combine to make a complete protein) have been staple foods for the peoples in Central and South America for centuries and continues to be so to this day. Corn has been grown by the original peoples on North and South America for 7,000 years. Christopher Columbus brought corn home to Spain. The Pilgrims were preserved by corn the Indians gave them and corn from that time has traveled with us into modern history. We feel freshly ground corn meal, ground yourself just before baking, produces great results both in flavor and nutrition. Until you've tried freshly ground corn, it will be hard for you to believe there can be such a big difference in flavor. A lot of that extra flavor comes from the parts of the kernel that's not removed when you mill it. Added to this, the air has little chance to oxidize the nutrients in it's whole corn form. When you grind it the same day you bake or cook with it, there's no time for this natural aging process to make your cornmeal stale, unlike what happens as it sits in the grocery store. Whole corn can be coarsely ground to make grits or finely ground to make cornbread, tortillas or chips. We feel as you learn how to use corn, you'll come to appreciate this versatile grain for the unique food it is - a staple grain, that with squash and beans has kept the early native Americans alive for centuries.
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Post by Paddy by Grace on Jun 16, 2009 19:35:24 GMT -7
Flax Seed Flax is truly an amazing grain which is proving itself over and over again as a nutritional wonder-grain. The scientific community is becoming more and more excited as it continues to learn about the healthful and healing effects of flax. Almost half the weight of this small, dark brown tear-shaped seed contains oil. And to a large extent, it’s this oil that’s making the big splash among the nutritional experts of today. But it’s not just the oil that’s making waves, as flax seed also contains several other remarkable nutritional elements that has everyone talking. Flax was already under wide cultivation in the Babylon Empire in 3,000 BC and it’s early beginnings are thought to precede this date by a couple of millennia. Through the history of man, flax has also been very important for the strong fibers in it’s straw which have been extracted from the stems and woven into linen. Over the centuries, flax has been developed into different strains until today there are two main varieties grown, one for flax seed oil and the other for the fibers in the stem for cloth making. Over half the oil found in flax seed consists of the highly sensitive fatty acid, Alpha Linolenic Acid (LNA). LNA will harden from the oxygen in the air if not protected from oxidation. This characteristic in flax seed oil has been exploited in industrial applications for hundreds of years. Paint flax seed oil on wood, for example, and over the span of a couple of days the oxidizing oils will harden, forming a protective barrier for the wood. This demonstrates flax oil’s great qualities as an oil based coating for both wood and concrete which is still in wide use today in the paint industry. It is also a main ingredient in linoleum and is presently used in making particle board. It’s not hard to find farmers that feed flax seed meal to their livestock as it aids their digestion and gives them a nice, shiny coat. And high levels of flax seed meal are now being fed to chickens producing eggs that demand a premium price which are rich in this omega-3 oil. Flax was first brought to North America in 1617. By 1875 flax was being cultivated over much of the inhabited country. Flax was grown in North America mainly for it’s oil used in industrial applications. During the two world wars, flax’s production had a marked increase as the need for this oil grew. Over the centuries, flax oil has been used to coat farm tools to prevent rusting. It's whole seed has been boiled and used as a poultice for boils and other skin infections. The mucilage obtained from boiling whole flax seed has been used as a hair gel. And through the ages, ground flax seed has been eaten for it’s healthful properties. Flax production has soared as the demand has tripled in just the last decade for flax as a nutritional supplement. The study of how flax relates to heart disease and cancer is in it’s infancy but what has been learned to date shows solid evidence of it's healthful properties. As the nutritional benefits of flax continue to come to light, it’s use will only increase. Partial Flax Nutrient Profile 100 Grams Calories 450 Breakdown of the oilsProtein 21 gm Inega-3 LNA 57%Fatty Acids (oils) 42 gm Omega-6 LA 14%Dietary Fiber 28 gm Monounsaturates 19%Carbohydrate 6 gm Saturates 5%Other 3 gm Other 5%
Flax seed has some truly amazing nutritional characteristics. It is most noted for it’s high levels of LNA, lignans and fiber which will be explored in much greater detail later. For a grain, flax seed also has a very high level of protein at 21%. The amino acid list for flax seed lines up fairly closely with wheat’s essential amino acids. However, flax contains high amounts of fiber, vitamin E, folacin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6 and is extremely high in the minerals potassium, calcium and phosphorus. Containing many other nutrients as well, flax seed is an incredibly important nutritional source and contains all the nutrients necessary to correctly digest the oils located within the seed. Because of the lubricative properties of the oil, flax seed is believed to help reduce the symptoms of arthritis. Current research tends to support the theory that flax seed is beneficial in lowering cholesterol and lowering the risk of heart disease, preventing cancer, correcting auto-immune disorders and the relief of constipation. Fifty-seven percent of flax seed oil is Alfa-linolenic acid (LNA) which is the highest LNA food known in the world. LNA is one of the two essential fatty acids we must get from eating foods. Our bodies can't make this precursor nutrient our systems need to make other vital fatty acids which perform life’s functions. It’s estimated that less than 1% of all fatty acids eaten by the average North American contain LNA with a whopping 95% of the population not getting enough of this vital fatty acid to be really healthy. This was not always the case. Technological developments in the last 125 years have largely changed our diets. Before the Industrial Revolution, when Americans hunted and gathered their food, there was as much as ten times more LNA in the diet as there is now. In addition, the intake of saturated fatty acids, and trans-fatty acids which were unknown in those days, has dramatically increased. These two dramatic changes in our diets are now causing real problems with our present day health. This causes all sorts of problems we don't need to have: growth retardation, weakness, impairment of vision and learning ability, motor un-coordination, behavioral changes, high triglycerides (fat) in the blood, high blood pressure, tissue inflammation, skin disorders, mental deterioration, hypertension, low metabolic rate and some kinds of immune dysfunction. Early research also points to LNA as an effective stroke reducing agent. Research is also learning that LNA appears to protect the heart against arrhythmia, a decease of the electrical stability of the heart. LNA inhibits Atherosclerosis, a inflammatory condition. But it is also thought that LNA works with flax’s other nutrients to help bring about this effect in reducing inflammation. So, how much LNA does a person need? The US has no RDA for it; but the latest information suggests one to two percent of your total calories should consist of LNA. This equates to 2.7-5.5 grams of LNA per day for an adult. One teasthingy of LNA weighs about 4.75 grams. As flax seed contains about 20% LNA by weight, that would equate to 1 to 2 tablesthingys of flax seed per day. To further clarify the picture on LNA and how it is affected by the other essential fatty acid, Linoleic acid (LA), see our Essential Fatty Acids pages. LA, which we already get too much of in our diets in North America, if eaten in too large amounts creates an LNA/LA imbalance and can inhibit absorption of LNA. The opposite is also true. LNA during pregnancy and early growth is vital for correct nerve and visual development of the fetus and infant. LNA is also important in lowering blood triglyceride levels and because of this, it is believed to lower the risk of heart disease. It also reduces the chances of blood clots forming in the vessels. LNA is now under study to gain concrete evidence LNA reduces the risk of cancer. Flax seed’s other primary ingredient we are emphasizing in this report is a group of phytoestrogenic compounds known as lignans. Flax seed contains 100 times more lignans than the next closest food. Lignans get broken down by intestinal bacteria into enterodiol and enterolactone, two mammalian lignans. Lignans contain powerful anti-cancer fighting agents and are especially effective against breast, colon, uterus and prostate cancers by controlling the sex hormones in our systems. As one example, lignans seem to flush excess estrogen from the body. Research has just begun on this fascinating subject. Lignans also seem to have anti-fungal, antibacterial and anti-viral properties. Flax seed oil contains practically no lignans - you must eat the flax seed, first ground into a meal. Flax oil also is missing many of the nutrients needed to digest it. But these nutrients are located in the seed. Both from a health and economic standpoint, we suggest eating whole flax seed you grind yourself rather than the high priced flax seed oil. Flax seed has been proven to markedly reduce cholesterol levels as effectively as oat bran and fruit pectin. This is probably due to it’s unusually high levels of soluble and insoluble fiber. Flax’s high quality fiber teamed with LNA and the rich lignans work together to build healthy blood lipid patterns. Of flax’s 28% fiber content, 2/3rds of it is mucilage, a soluble fiber. As an experiment, boil 1 tablesthingy of whole flax seed in a cup of water. In about 5 minutes, a thick, clear liquid will appear. This soluble fiber acts as a wonderful lubricant in moving food through your intestinal system. It also carries with it cholesterol that has been expelled into the large intestine, preventing it’s re-absorption. The mucilage alone is a great boon to health. Flax’s other fiber - it’s insoluble fiber - also keeps things flowing though your intestinal tract. It’s been shown that the fiber in 50 grams of flax seed eaten in muffins increased the number of bowel movements helping prevent constipation. The two types of fiber in flax seed maintain the fecal bulk and keep it moving through the colon. The LNA and lignans in flax seed both support and strengthen the body’s immune system. Through processes beyond the scope of this report, flax seed bolsters the immune system in several different ways strengthening it to fight off disease. Flax seed is an important grain that will improve just about everyone’s health. Even healthy people can improve their health by eating ground flax seed. When the author started eating flax seed, he was in the US Army and considered himself to be as healthy as anyone. After eating 3 tablesthingys of flax seed each day for about a month, he noticed some remarkable things begin to happen. Instead of coming back almost dead from a five mile run, he noticed his vitality increase to the point that on finishing a long run like this, he felt as fresh as he did before the run. He also noticed a big difference in his vision. Colors became much bolder as if they were ‘jumping out’ at him. Evidently, he was suffering from an LNA deficiency. Had he been getting enough LNA he probably wouldn't have noticed any changes which brings up a story. A guy added 3 quarts of oil to the engine of his car and found that it ran better. He was so excited about it that he told everyone he met that if they, too, added three quarts of oil to their engines their cars would also run better. Of course, most people know if their oil level is already up to the ‘full line’ on the dipstick, that adding 3 more quarts of oil isn't going to make their cars run better. Rather the opposite will happen and their engine will likely blow a seal. This little analogy goes a long way to show that no nutrient is going to make you feel better unless you have a deficiency in it. If your body is already getting plenty of a certain nutrient, giving it more won't make it feel better. And sometimes it will make the body feel worse if it’s an oil soluble vitamin or some other nutrient that can cause a toxicity if it’s eaten in over-abundance. (The author believes the real secret to good health includes eating good, wholesome foods containing all the nutrients needed for good health, coupled with exercise.) Flax certainly plays a role in this. As a full 95% of the population in North America are not eating enough LNA, it's a fairly safe bet that you will feel better after you start yourself on a diet of flax. For flax to do any good in your system, the seed must be broken open. The outer shell on the flax seed is so hard that unbroken, it just passes right through you, retaining all it’s nutrients. (So much for all those recipes that have whole flax seed as an ingredient!) Don't be tempted to buy expensive flax seed oil as it contains none of the lignans or fiber found in the seed. And Don't buy flax seed meal already ground. The outer shell of the flax seed is nature’s perfect container and breaking it open exposes the delicate fatty acids to rapid oxidation. Grind only as much flax seed as you plan on using that day. There’s several ways of breaking the seed open. The easiest way is to grind a small amount of dry flax seed in a blender or coffee grinder. When making bread, it can also be mixed with your other whole grains before grinding. Don't try to grind flax seed in a grain grinder by itself. It contains so much fat that the oily flax seed pulp will plug your grinder. You can add flax seed meal to many different dishes. Mix it in yogurt, salad dressings, on prepared or cooked cereal and you can bake it into many different desserts or breads. Much like putting too much oil in a car, it is possible to eat too much flax seed. Tipping the scales with too heavy an ingestion of LNA will prevent the proper digestion and use of it’s sister essential fatty acid, LA. Three tablesthingys of flax seed a day should be enough to take care of anyone’s LNA needs. And after several weeks or months of usage, you can probably cut it down to 1 to 2 tablesthingys of flax seed per day after you've gotten over the LNA deficiency. How can you tell if you're getting too much? Your fingernails will get thin and break easily. But it would take months of ingesting too much LNA for this to happen. Unlike some nutrients that are destroyed with heat, the LNA and lignans in flax can safely be heated up to baking temperatures without harming them. Studies have shown the LNA and lignans in flax seed can withstand temperatures up to 350 degrees F for 2 hours. These temperatures and times are worse than most home baking conditions. How long can you store flax seed? The author is presently eating five year old flax seed that was stored in cans sealed with oxygen absorbers. He says it’s still ‘just fine.’ Whole, un-ground flax seed should store in the kitchen without any special care given to it for a year. Stored in the absence of oxygen in a cool room, flax’s storage life will be increased to many years. With flax’s vitamin E content which is a good antioxidant, you can consider your flax seed a good storing commodity if you take good care of it. Containing no gluten, flax seed should be perfectly safe to eat by those with wheat allergies. If you are in poor health, please consult your doctor before starting a diet of flax seed. If you are already under the care of a physician, we strongly recommend you first get your doctor's approval before eating flax seed.
Kamut Kamut is a close relative to wheat whose kernel. Its about the same shape as a wheat seed but a Kamut kernel is more than twice as big. Even though Kamut is very closely related to wheat, many people who are wheat intolerant can eat Kamut with no problems. Kamut also has some pretty amazing nutritional strengths. And as an amazingly versatile grain, Kamut can be used in place of all the different wheats; the hard and soft varieties and also durum wheat. Kamut's history is as interesting as any grain you can find. Stories abound about how a small sample of this grain was found in the pyramids of Egypt. They were planted and grew. This story revolves around a young Montana airman while stationed in the US Air Force in Portugal. Someone gave, or more likely, sold him 36 kernels of this grain, telling him it came from the pyramids of Egypt. Evidently, the serviceman believed him, and mailed the kernels home to his wheat-farmer dad who planted them. Of the 36 kernels, 32 of them sprouted. After carefully tending these seeds and their offspring for the next 6 years, these 32 kernels had grown to 1,500 bushels. (I did the math, yes it's possible.) This unusual, large kerneled wheat was shown at the county fair and was called "King Tut's Wheat." Bob Quinn, just a boy at the time, was a youngster in the crowd. The grain never really caught on at that time and the farmer ended up feeding it to his cattle. In 1977, Bob, now a agricultural scientist with a Ph.D., remembered that strange looking wheat and after scouring the country side came up with a pint bottle of it. By 1988, Bob had the strain built back up and had generated enough interest in it that he could start marketing it commercially. Scientists from around the world have inspected Kamut and attempted to give it a taxonomic classification. However, it's exact class still remains somewhat uncertain but is believed to be an ancient durum wheat variety. As 3,000 year-old wheat from the Egyptian tombs can't sprout, the scientists who have attempted to classify this seed generally believe Kamut was an obscure grain kept alive by peasant farmers in Egypt or Asia Minor. Adding to the mystery shrouding this grain, in the last 50 years, Kamut has vanished from it's traditional lands as modern varieties of wheat replaced it. The person who sold those 36 kernels to the airman, I can only guess to make a quick buck, actually did the world a really big favor in bringing this ancient grain back from obscurity and certain extinction. Dr. Quinn patented the seed, then coined and trade marked the name "Kamut" which is believed to be an ancient Egyptian word for wheat. Kamut may have disappeared from it's native lands in the Old World, but it is alive and doing well in the small corners of Montana and Alberta. Kamut is a high protein grain, generally containing 30% more protein than wheat. It's amino acid ratio is about the same as wheat so if you should happen to be eating nothing but Kamut, you may wish to add some peanut butter, legumes or some other food high in lysine to give you a little better amino acid blend. As this grain hasn't been altered by modern plant breeders, it retains it's ancient nutrition, flavor and goodness. Due to it's slightly higher fatty acid content, Kamut can be considered a high energy grain, and compared to wheat, Kamut also contains elevated levels of vitamin E, Thiamin, Riboflavin, phosphorus, magnesium, zinc, pantothentic acid, copper and complex carbohydrates. All around, Kamut seems to be a very healthy grain. Because of it's larger seed size in comparison to wheat, there's less fiber in Kamut than wheat. So, depending on your needs, if you require a high fiber diet, perhaps Spelt would be a better alternative which has a higher fiber content than even wheat. The fact that many people who are allergic to wheat and can tolerate Kamut is probably the biggest reason Kamut has made real inroads into the health food markets. Several studies have been conducted with Kamut on people with wheat allergies. People with wheat allergies must be careful when trying Kamut. Laboratory tests show that 30% of the subjects with wheat allergies also displayed allergies to Kamut. In some cases their reactions to Kamut were even worse than for wheat. However, on the flip side of the coin, many people who couldn't eat wheat had no problem with Kamut. Giving additional hope to wheat sensitive people, bakeries have noted that their Kamut products have been safe to eat for almost every wheat sensitive person who has purchased their products. The bottom line - if you are wheat sensitive, under the advice of your doctor, you may wish to carefully try Kamut with the hope that you can eat bread again. If you don't have wheat allergies, you can feel confident Kamut will be a new experience because of it's great flavor. And because of it's higher nutrition, you will probably feel better as well. As mentioned before, you can use Kamut in your different recipes calling for wheat. Be aware, however, that Kamut is closer to durum wheat than the hard wheat varieties and doesn't contain as much gluten. Because of this, you may wish to add wheat gluten or alter your expectations toward a little heavier loaf of bread. Kamut goes great in cakes and is ideally suited for your home-made pastas. We think you'll appreciate the fine flavor of Kamut and after having once tried it, will look forward to baking with this new yet ancient grain as much as your family will enjoy eating it.
Millet The millet seed is a small, round, ivory colored seed about 20 mm in diameter. There are 6,000 varieties of millet grown around the world. The variety sold in North America for human consumption is called Pearl Millet. It has a rather alkaline pH which makes it a really easy grain to digest. Used mainly as bird feed, millet has a rather bland flavor. Millet is thought to be one of the first grains cultivated by man. The first recorded comments regarding millet date back to 5,500 BC in China. Millet could have been domesticated hundreds or even thousands of years before this in Africa where it still grows wild throughout the continent. Found in ancient pottery and ancient writings alike throughout China, millet was an extremely important grain but diminished somewhat with the advent of rice and maize. Although it’s role has diminished through the centuries, millet is still a food under wide cultivation in parts of Africa, India and China where it’s a staple food. Much of millet’s success in surviving through the ages has been it’s ability to produce well in hot, arid, drought prone areas where nothing else will grow. As another plus, it can be harvested only 45-65 days after planting. Through the centuries, Millet spread it’s way through Europe and was most often eaten boiled whole as a porridge but was sometimes made into a flat bread which the Egyptians first developed. Millet contains more calories than wheat, probably because of it’s higher oil content of 4.2% which is 50% polyunsaturated. Millet is rich in B vitamins, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, zinc copper and manganese. It’s protein content is a little lower than that of wheat as are the essential amino acids. Like wheat, lysine is millet’s limiting amino acid. However, millet contains enough protein to still be considered a good protein source. Millet is a gluten free grain and is the only grain that retains it’s alkaline properties after being cooked which is ideal for people with wheat allergies. With a texture much like brown rice, millet can be used in pilafs, casseroles or most oriental dishes that call for rice, quinoa or buckwheat. It can be ground into flour and used in flat breads or mixed up to 25% with wheat flour for use in yeast breads. After it has been soaked for a couple of hours, millet in it’s whole grain form cooks like rice in about 20 minutes. Millet cooks well into vegetable loaves and adds body to soups and stews. Millet added dry to your biscuit, bread and roll doughs adds a crunchy texture and brings variety to your baked goods. Able to be popped like popcorn, popped millet goes well in breakfast cereals, granola and bread. Increasing in volume more than any other grain, a cup of dry millet expands to three cups of cooked millet which takes on the form of a fluffy, delicate flavored hot cereal you are sure to appreciate. For baked dishes, cook millet at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes. Boiled millet cooks in 10-20 minutes. Steamed millet, cooked in a saucepan, cooks in 15 to 30 minutes. Millet is a good storing grain which will store without any special considerations for one to two years. If you want to put millet into long term storage, package it inside air-tight containers and use oxygen absorbers. Stored in this fashion and put in a cool place, millet should keep well for many years.
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Post by Paddy by Grace on Jun 16, 2009 19:36:00 GMT -7
Whole Oats Hulled Groats Rolled Oats Oats, like barley, have a hard outer hull that must be removed before it’s ready for human consumption. Even though the outer hull of an oat kernel comes off easier than a barley kernel’s hull, it’s still not within reach of the average consumer to accomplish this. For this reason, if you want whole oats to eat, purchase them already hulled. Hulled oats, called oat groats, look very much like rye or Triticale. Unlike barley which must have it’s hull sanded off damaging the seed, an oat groat kernel’s outer bran layer is still intact after de-hulling. This somewhat protects the inner nutrients and also permits it to sprout. From this stage of processing, oats are most often rolled. Sometimes they are cut into two to four pieces before rolling and are called ‘steel cut rolled oats,’ or quick rolled oats. Opening the seed in this way permits oxidation of the inner nutrients causing them to go rancid. Long ago, it was learned if oat groats were steamed first destroying the enzymes that permitted rancidity to happen, the rolled oats could be stored for long periods of time and stay fresh. Here at Walton Feed, we've heard more than one story of a family opening up a well stored 25 year old can of rolled oats thinking they'd only be good to feed the chickens. But to their surprise, their rolled oats were still fresh and wholesome after all that time. Oats have been around for quite some time, dating back to around 2,000 B.C. in the Middle East. Oats date back in Germany to 1,000 B.C. and because oats contain little gluten, they were considered not good for much more than animal feed. However, because oats can grow in conditions where wheat and barley won't produce, they made a place for themselves though history during harsh years and were considered a grain for the poor. Today, about 95% of all oats grown are used as animal feed. Through modern science won't learned that oats are a remarkably healthy food. With a relatively high soluble and insoluble fiber content of 10%, oats are an excellent food in lowering cholesterol and reducing the risk of heart disease. Containing over 4 times the fatty acids of wheat, oats can be considered a high calorie food containing 19% more calories than wheat. One third of those fats are the polyunsaturated type which are required for good health. Oats are also rich in the B vitamins, contain the anti-oxidant vitamin E and oats are mineral rich as well. The following table shows the nutrients in oats that are higher than the nutrients found in wheat... Nutrients in 100 Grams of Oats Unit % More Of ThanNutrient Measure Oats Wheat Food energy KCal: 389 19%Total lipids Gms: 6.9 348%Vitamin E Mg: 1.09 InfiniteThiamin Mg: 0.763 99%Riboflavin Mg: 0.139 21%Folacin Mcg: 56 47%Potassium Mg: 429 18%Calcium Mg: 54 86%Phosphorus Mg: 523 82%Magnesium Mg: 177 40%Iron Mg: 4.72 48%Zinc Mg: 3.97 50%Pantothenic acid Mg: 1.349 41%Copper Mg: 0.626 44%Manganese Mg: 4.916 23%
Oats are considered a ‘cleansing grain.’ They not only cleanse your intestinal tract but your blood as well. Oats contain an excellent balance of amino acids. It’s proteins are almost in perfect proportion to the body’s needs. High in lysine which is often low in other cereal grains, oats bring a real balance to your protein needs without the need of mixing foods. Oats contain high levels of complex carbohydrates which have been linked to reducing the risk of cancer and the better control of diabetes. In the grocery stores of North America, oats are most often found as either regular or quick rolled oats. However, if you have a flaker, you can produce your own rolled oats from our oat groats producing a fresher, tastier, and more nutritious cereal. You can also run oat groats through your grain grinder to get oat flour for baking or for use in other dishes. Using 25% oat flour, the natural vitamin E in oats will help keep your breads from going stale so quickly. Oat flour can also be used as a preservative for ice cream and other dairy products (it’s that vitamin E again). It’s also used as a talc replacer in skin care products. Oat bran contains ß glucans, a cholesterol lowering chemical through a mechanism still unclear to the scientific community. This soluble fiber in oat bran may also aid in regulating blood sugar levels by forming gels that slow the absorption of glucose sugar in the intestinal tract. It only takes 2 minutes to cook oat bran in boiling water. It’s almost a convenience food when thinking of things to have for breakfast. It takes about 10-15 minutes to cook regular rolled oats. Quick rolled oats, being thinner, cook much quicker in 2-3 minutes. And instant rolled oats, which have already been cooked then dehydrated, just need hot water added. As instant rolled oats are the least nutritious, you should think seriously about using them in your every day cooking habits instead of using the slower cooking quick oats. Instant oats certainly have their place, however, such as on camping trips and in your 72 hour kits. Using rolled oats as a meat extender in meat loafs is a well known practice. And then there's oatmeal cookies. But aside from eating oatmeal for breakfast, oats aren't used too much in mainstream North America today. This is too bad as oats are so extremely healthy! The Scots and Irish base much of their cooking on oats, showing us Americans by good example that oats are a more versatile food than we seem to think. Oat flour makes rich thickeners for soups, gravies and stews. Oat flour will also add nutrition to your breads, muffins, crackers, beverages and desserts. And everybody knows oats are the main ingredient in granola. Because of the antioxidants in oats, they are a good storing grain. However, for best storage conditions, pack them in airtight containers, use oxygen absorbers and store them in a cool place.
Popcorn Popcorn is already a very familiar food to almost everyone. A special strain of corn, popcorn has been in existence for thousands of years. In fact, the oldest popcorn found to date was discovered in a bat cave in New Mexico and was 5,600 years old. Popcorn has also been excavated out of tombs in South America and it was so well preserved it still popped. Thousands of years old popped corn, still white and fresh looking has also been found in ancient burial sites. Popcorn kernels from those early times had a tougher hull and were not as round looking as today's popcorn. When the first Europeans made their mark on the Americas, popcorn was grown by most of the Indians living on the continent. Ancient natives wore popcorn in their hair and around their necks and used it in many different rituals honoring their Gods and their dead. When the Europeans arrived, it became a favorite food for them as well. It was found at that first Thanksgiving Day feast in Massachusetts and later in it's popped form was the first ever puffed breakfast cereal. Later, during the latter part of the 19th century, popcorn was very popular in the cities. Vendors pushed their little carts containing gas powered poppers up and down the streets and at fairs and horse races. During the Great Depression, popcorn made another upswing as this 'extra' was one of the few treats people could afford. During W.W.II when sugar was rationed, popcorn made another surge in popularity. The 1950's were not good years for popcorn. But when the 60's came along and North America fell in love with their televisions, popcorn made it's return to popularity which has only increased until the average American now eats a whopping 68 quarts of popcorn per year. Popcorn is a type of flint corn. It's kernels have a very hard outer shell with a hard starchy inside. It is dried to a moisture level of 13.5% - the optimum moisture content for good popping. Over the years, plant breeders have had their hand in perfecting popcorn until it's popping ability is now up to 99%. You may have considered popcorn to be junk-food. However, it actually supplies a lot of nutrition and is suggested as a snack by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the American Dental Association (ADA) and the American Dietetic Association (ADA). Popcorn contains substantial amounts of carbohydrates, fiber, many of the B vitamins, Potassium, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Iron, Zinc, Pantothenic acid, Copper, Manganese, Linoleic acid and all the essential amino acids. And for how inexpensive popcorn is, popcorn will give you very good nutritional bang for the buck in your food storage or every-day eating. It's inexpensive, easy to pop and great fun to eat. Hints for getting the best popped corn: Don't pop popcorn in butter as the butter will burn before it can get hot enough. Popcorn pops best in temperatures of 400-460 degrees F. If your oil starts to smoke which happens at 500 degrees F, you've got it too hot. Any oil will work. Use enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan. For your health, you should choose a light cooking oil or better yet, skip the oil all together and use an air popper. The movie houses use yellow dyed coconut oil which does a great job of popping the popcorn although there are healthier oils you can use than coconut oil. To see if you have the oil hot enough, drop a couple of kernels into the hot oil. If it's hot enough, they should pop in just a few seconds. If you don't have a popper, any thick bottomed, high walled pan will do. Popcorn can even be easily made in a Dutch oven over a camp fire. When your oil is the right temperature, pour in your popcorn, shaking the pan to cover all the seeds in oil. Do this with the lid on to prevent burns should the hot oil try to splash out of the pan. Using a lid helps the kernels to heat more evenly and keeps the popping corn from flying all over the place. (If you are using a popcorn popper, shaking it isn't necessary because of it's rounded bottom.) As it begins popping, it's important to continue to shake a flat-bottomed pan. This helps any un-popped kernels to settle to the bottom of the pan where they can pop. As soon as you hear the popcorn stop popping, pull the pan off the heat and pour the popcorn into another container. It will burn if you leave it in the hot pan. What can you do if you've done everything right but your popcorn still doesn't pop very well? As mentioned above, popcorn must have about 13.5 to 14% moisture to pop properly. This is because as the popcorn kernel is heated, the moisture inside the seed is turned to steam creating a huge inner pressure. As this pressure continues past the shell's strength to keep it in, the skin ruptures and the inner starchy layer of the kernel greatly expands and turns itself inside out. If the moisture isn't there, this pressure build-up can't happen. If you find your popcorn has excessive old maids (un-popped kernels) in it, the problem might be that it lacks moisture. Place 3 cups of un-popped popcorn into a quart bottle. Add a tablesthingy of water, put the lid on and shake it to get water on all the kernels. If the water puddles in the bottom of the bottle, shake it again every 10 minutes until enough of the water has been absorbed to prevent puddling. Now let it sit for two or three days while the moisture is evenly distributed into the kernels. If it still doesn't pop correctly, repeat this process but add no more than 2 teasthingys of water the second time. Yes, it's also possible to get it so moist it won't pop, so definitely, don't add water a third time. Lastly, you can even take your old maids that didn't pop, rejuvenate them with water using the above process and re-pop them. (With a measurement of three cups un-popped popcorn, 1 tablesthingy of water will increase the moisture content 2.5%. A teasthingy of water will increase the moisture level almost 1%. Air dried popcorn will probably never get below a 10% moisture content on it's own, so adding even two tablesthingys of water would be pushing it, raising the moisture content to 15% - that is if it started out at a moisture level of 10%.) Final thoughts: Popcorn doesn't grind nicely into a flour like yellow dent corn but is fairly gritty because of it's hard inner starches. Also, popcorn is such a hard kernel that several of the lower-end grain grinders can be damaged by it. As popcorn costs twice as much as yellow dent corn, it only makes sense to get that type of field corn for your corn meal needs and leave the popcorn for popping.
Quinoa Like some of the other exotic grains, Quinoa isn't a grain at all but is technically a fruit. Quinoa might be a new and exotic item here in North America, however, this isn't so in South America where it has grown for more than 5,000 years in and around the Andes Mountains. The Incas called Quinoa 'the Mother Grain' as eating this food tended to give long life. Quinoa can be grown just about anywhere - presently being grown in the US and Canada. But North American growers, so far, are unable to match the quality of Quinoa that comes from the high mountains of South America. Farmers trying to grow this variety of Quinoa, called Altiplano, haven't been able to get it to produce in the lower elevations of North America. Instead, North American farmers grow a darker brown, more bitter tasting variety of Quinoa called 'Sea Level Quinoa.' The really good, light colored, sweetly delicate Quinoa comes from the highest mountains in the Andes. This 'Golden Grain of the Andes' is such a rugged little plant that it can even grow at high, extremely dry elevations where even grass won't grow. Yet, the most sought-after strains of Quinoa are so fragile that they won't produce at lower elevations on good soil. Interestingly enough, much of the world’s Quinoa is grown in Bolivia at elevations around 12,000 feet. The Quinoa seed is a small oval disk about 1.5-2 mm in diameter. As it grows, the seed is coated with a dark, almost black layer of 'saponine' that has a bitter, soapy taste. Saponine is the plant’s natural defense against insects, birds and other small animals that might want to eat it on the stock. Before Quinoa can be eaten, the saponine must me washed off. (As saponine acts as a crude soap, the locals who grow Quinoa, save the saponine-water and wash their clothes in it!) Virtually all Quinoa sold in North America as food already has the saponine removed. This leaves a very nutritious food that has been called by many, ‘nature’s perfect food.’ Quinoa is one of the few foods with a relatively balanced protein. Quinoa’s high level of the amino acid, lycine, complements wheat nicely. By mixing Quinoa into your wheat at a ratio of 25% Quinoa to 75% wheat, the Quinoa will make your wheat breads a complete protein. Quinoa contains a long list of nutrients. The following table lists the nutrients found in Quinoa that are higher than what is found in wheat: Nutrients in 100 grams of Quinoa Unit Amount % More Of In ThanNutrient Measure Quinoa Wheat Food energy KCal: 374 113%Total lipid (fat) Gms: 5.8 302%Carbohydrate, by diff. Gms: 68.9 101%Ttl monounsaturated fat Gms: 1.535 506%Ttl polyunsaturated fat Gms: 2.347 306%Riboflavin Mg : 0.396 360%Folacin Mcg: 49 113%
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