Productive and Qualitative Traits of Amaranthus Cruentus L.: An Unconventional Healthy Ingredient in Animal Feed
Fabio Gresta | Giorgia Meineri | Marianna Oteri | Carmelo Santonoceto | Vittorio Lo Presti | Annalisa Costale | Biagina Chiofalo
Agronomic traits, oil content, fatty acid composition, antioxidant activity, and total phenolic content were studied on eight <i>A. cruentus</i> accessions cultivated in Southern Italy. A one-way ANOVA model was performed to compare accessions and the Principal Components Analysis was applied to identify patterns in our dataset and highlight similarities and differences. <i>A. cruentus</i> showed valuable seed yield (0.27 kg/m<sup>2</sup>, on average) comparable to the main tradition cereals used for animal feeding. Seed-oil composition showed significant differences among the accessions. Data showed a higher lipid content than most cereal grains (from 5.6 to 7.3%). Approximately 60% of fatty acids were unsaturated; linoleic fatty acid ranged from 19 to 34%, oleic acid from 29 to 36%, and alfa-linolenic fatty acid from 0.3 to 0.5%, respectively. The saturated/unsaturated fatty acid ratio ranged from 0.5 to 0.8, the hypocholesterolemic:hypercholesterolaemic ratio from 1.7 to 2.7, the Atherogenic Index from 0.38 to 0.66, the Thrombogenic Index from 0.85 to 1.48, the total phenolic content from 0.14 to 0.36 mg/g seeds, and the antioxidant activity (DPPH<sup>•</sup>) from 0.30 to 0.50. The studied seed-oil composition evidenced <i>A. cruentus</i> as a healthy ingredient for animal feed and consequently, as a possible substitute for traditional cereals. Accessions from Mexico and Arizona emerged for their high qualitative traits.
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