Characterizing quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) starch composition and structure to diversify its use in human diet formulations

藜麦是一种原产于南美洲的假谷物，是印加文明饮食的重要组成部分。在过去的二十年中，藜麦因其在不利条件下的高产能力和其营养成分优于大多数谷物而在世界范围内引起了极大的兴趣。藜麦的食用方式与大米相似，但藜麦的蛋白质含量更高，与小麦相似。藜麦蛋白质富含赖氨酸，这是所有谷物中都缺乏的一种必需氨基酸。藜麦蛋白与酪蛋白或牛奶蛋白相比。藜麦籽粒在淀粉组成和结构上也表现出广泛的多样性，这影响了其消化率、葡萄糖对人体的可利用性和血糖指数。北方藜麦生产公司（NQPC, NorQuin）是一家专业谷物和食品加工公司，总部位于萨斯喀彻温省萨斯卡通，专注于开发新的藜麦品种，其谷物成分对人类健康有益。本研究旨在优化藜麦籽粒成分的高通量分析方法。优化的方法将用于鉴定具有所需颗粒组成的藜麦基因型，用于藜麦育种计划，以加速开发具有额外健康益处的新品种。这个项目的成功完成将为加拿大和国际消费者提供一种新的谷物。饮食多样性是实现营养安全的关键，因为藜麦富含几种微量营养素，可以添加到人类饮食中。含有较少可消化淀粉的谷物对预防和控制肥胖及相关慢性疾病非常有用。对于农业生产者来说，新的藜麦品种将增加作物多样化，因为藜麦可以在较不利的条件下种植。NQPC是一家垂直整合的公司，从现场到叉车，利用这项研究的结果为加拿大生产商和消费者带来好处。该研究项目的成功完成将有助于全球营养安全，为重塑健康和营养农业的新农业范式开发具有气候适应能力的作物。

Quinoa is a pseudocereal (grain like) native to South America, where it formed an important component in thediet of Incan civilization. In the last two decades, Quinoa has gained considerable interest worldwide due to itsability to productively grow under less favorable conditions and grain nutritional composition is superior tomost of the cereal grains. Quinoa is consumed in a manner similar to rice but Quinoa protein concentration ishigher and similar to wheat. Quinoa proteins are rich in lysine, an essential amino acid deficient in all cerealgrains. Quinoa protein has been compared to casein or milk proteins. Quinoa grain also shows a wide diversityin starch composition and structure that influences its digestibility and the availability of glucose to humanbody and glycemic index. Northern Quinoa Production Corporation (NQPC, NorQuin) is a specialty grain andfood processing company headquartered in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, that is focused to develop new Quinoacultivars with grain composition beneficial for human health. The proposed research aims to optimize highthroughput grain analyses methods to determine Quinoa grain composition. The optimized methods will beused to identify Quinoa genotypes with desired grain composition to be used in a Quinoa breeding program toaccelerate the development of new varieties with added health benefits. Successful completion of this projectwill provide a new grain to be included in the diet for Canadian and international consumers. Diet diversity isa key to achieve nutritional security as Quinoa is rich in several micronutrients that will be added to the humandiet. Grains with less digestible starch will be very useful to prevent and manage obesity and associated chronicdiseases. For agricultural producers, new Quinoa varieties will add to crop diversification as Quinoa can becultivated in less favorable conditions. NQPC is a vertically integrated company working from field to forkcapable to utilize the results of this research for the benefit of Canadian producers and consumers. Successfulcompletion of this research project will contribute to global nutritional security, develop a climate resilient cropfor the new agricultural paradigm reshaping agriculture for health and nutrition.