Description

We grew a lot of leafy vegetables in our research center, including mint, kale, coriander / cilantro, which we discussed on a previous blog. Today we are discussing one of my favorites - Amaranth (Amaranthus one). It comes in shades of green, red, or a combination of both - a useful and simple ingredient with many benefits.

Amaranth is an excellent source for:
Protein
Dietary Fibers
Food Minerals

Amaranth is considered a complete protein (as it contains a sufficient amount of the amino acid Lysine). Young Amaranth leaves can be eaten in salads, while older, ripe leaves are better cooked. Cooked Amaranthus retains a high content of essential vitamins and minerals. Therefore, Amaranthus is beneficial in any way- cooked and raw.

We have tried to grow Amaranth using each of the following methods:

Coco-peat
Nutrient Film Technique (NFT)
Deep Water Culture (DWC)

As long as conditions such as temperature and humidity remain the same, Amaranth can be harvested within 4-6 weeks. For all types of interactions, due to the strong temperatures, we gave the plants a spray of plain water when they looked very dry. Our results show that both NFT and DWC result in longer plants.