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The Amaranth in Agricultural Science Directory

Amaranth is a broadleaf plant that could be mistaken for soybeans early in the growing season by someone driving past a field. Late in the season, however, there is no mistaking this striking, tall crop which develops brilliantly colored grain heads producing thousands of tiny seeds. Amaranth was a major food of the Aztecs and earlier American cultures, having been domesticated thousands of years ago. After the arrival of the Spanish Conquistadors in Mexico in the early 1500s, amaranth almost disappeared in the Americas as a crop until research began on it in the U.S. in the 1970s. In the meantime, amaranth had spread around the world, and became established for food use of the grain or leaves in places such as Africa, India and Nepal. In the past two decades, amaranth has begun to be grown by a much larger number of farmers around the world, in China, Russia, parts of eastern Europe, South America and is reemerging as a crop in Mexico.

Address: 601 W. Nifong Blvd., Suite 1D, Columbia, MO 65203
Telephone: 573.449.3518
Fax: 573.449.2398
Website: http://www.jeffersoninstitute.org/amaranth.php