eChapters

Amaranth crop stands in the group of pseudocereals and it is popular for its significant nutrient content as well as attractive inflorescence. The word Amaranthus came from a Greek word “Anthor” meaning eternal or unwilting. Amaranthus belongs to family of dicotyledonous plants Amaranthaceae and is one of the multipurpose rare plants whose leaves are consumed in the form 15 of vegetable while the grains are consumed as cereals. Amaranthus being an ancient crop has been included in the human diet since the pre-colonized South American civilizations.

Amaranth is an annual herb with erect growth and scarce to profuse branching habit. Flowers are borne terminally and in axils of leaves in clusters. Basic unit of inflorescence is called as glomerule. Flowers are small, unisexual and monoecious. Proportion of male and female flowers varies in an inflorescence. Each glomerule consists of a staminate flower and a number of pistillate flowers. The extent of cross pollination is governed by proportion of male and female flowers in an inflorescence and position of inflorescence in plant

1.1 Introduction Amaranth is considered as one of the “superfoods” of the coming century due to its exceptional qualities in various aspects. However, the crop is not a novel discovery, and it has faced quite a number of obstacles in order to get to where it is today in terms of nutritional status and acceptance by modern day consumers as a food which is able to provide nutrition. Despite the setbacks and disuse, Amaranth has had three redeeming qualities that have earned its standing as a “superfood.”In recent years, the grain amaranths have garnered increased attention because of their nutritional qualities and, in particular, the nutritional value of the seed protein. Amaranth seed is higher in fiber (8%) than the grain of most cereals.

Abstract

The amaranth as a pseudocereal has shown its role in the development and diversification of agricultural products and food which is a priority trend for world agriculture. The amaranth has excellent nutrient profile and technological advantage in various food formulations in comparison to other conventional cereals. Recently, current interest in amaranth also resides in the fact that it has a great amount of genetic diversity, phenotypic plasticity and is extremely adaptable to adverse growing conditions, resists heat and drought, has no major disease problem. This crop is among the easiest of plants to grow in agriculturally marginal lands in hilly area. Moreover, these contain significant amount of bioactive components such as phytosterols, squalene and polyphenols along with good amount of micronutrients such as minerals and vitamins. Amaranth consumption has been shown to improve plasma lipid profile in animals. Methanolic extracts of amaranth have demonstrated anti-hyperlipidemic,anti-diarrheic, anti-fungal and anti-malarial properties. Specific polyphenols such as rutin, isoquercetin and nicotiflorin and phenolic acids and amides with antioxidant activity have been found in amaranth seeds. In addition to above, amaranth, seeds are gluten free and thus they are currently emerging as healthy alternatives to gluten containing grains in gluten free diet for celiac people.

Amaranth (Amaranthus spp.) is the most popular leafy vegetable grown in India throughout the summer and rainy season, and is known as chaulai in Hindi. Amaranth’s leaves and tender stems are high in protein, minerals including calcium, iron, zinc, copper, manganese, and potassium, as well as vitamins like vitamin A (carotene), vitamin C, folic acid, thiamine, niacin, and riboflavin. The leaves have a crude protein value of 20-32 percent on a dry weight basis and are commonly grown as a leafy vegetable in Southeast Asia. Amaranth plants are usually annuals or perennials with a short life span. The stems are usually reddish in colour and sometimes have spines; they have simple alternately arranged leaves and a pinkish taproot.

A family of about 175 genera and 2,500 species, Amaranthaceae are mostly distributed in tropical but also in temperate regions. About 18 genera and over 50 species have been reported from India. Some of the larger genera with the number of their approximately reported species and common names are Alternanthera (200, alligator weed), Gomphrena (100, globe amaranth), Iresine (80, gizzard plant), Amaranths (60, pigweed) and Celosia (60, cock’s comb).
Gomphrenas are 30-40 cm tall, bushy with erect stems, hairy, light green with oblong-ovate leaves tapering towards the base. Round button like or spherical flower head is a cylindrical spike 1-2 cm long and 1 cm in diameter and may be terminal and/or axillary, and are born on long, thin stems above the foliage. Each flower head has tiny, conspicuous, papery, colourful bracts which enclose the inconspicuous true flowers. Bracts ovate, three mm long, apex acuminate, bracteoles 4.5-5.5 mm long. Ovary is sub-globose with two stigmas. Seed is brown, lustrous, 1.5 mm long (Wagner et al., 1999). It has both C3 and C4 pathway.
Selected Indian Genera
Achyranthes, Alternanthera, Amaranths, Celosia, Digera, Gomphrena and Pupalia.

Amaranth is one of the oldest food crops in the new world, with evidence of cultivation reaching back as far as 6-700 BC. This is probably due to the ability of these plants to adapt to new environments, an extremely broad climatic adaptability and their competitive ability, which permits culture with minimum crop management, thus making it an easy crop to cultivate and domesticate.

The adaptability of Amaranths could lead to cropping systems in these semi-arid regions of South Africa, so providing a very nutritious vegetable dish to the people’s diet.  Careful attention should be paid to the variety planted if it is to be successfully grown as a commercial crop so as to choose one which is palatable. The economic viability of growing amaranths should also be considered against its background as a food, particularly in areas of low rainfall, as it will still produce a yield, even under low rainfall and high temperature regimes.

It is clear that this crop has the potential to address malnutrition problems, earn money for farmers, decrease environmental damage, reduce poverty in communities and increase supply of food. Our fresh water supplies are decreasing, climatic change is increasing occurrence and severity of drought and heat. There is no doubt that these underutilised crops have the sufficient untapped potential to address a number of agricultural challenges, we are facing in the world today.

Amaranthus stem weevil: Hypolixus truncatulus :Curculionidae
 
It is an important pest of amaranthus and is widely distributed in India. It attacks both wild and cultivated amaranthus, especially the leafy varieties with large leaves. Hence, management involves destruction of unwanted, weedy wild amaranthus plants, to reduce the breeding place for the weevil. Adults are ash-grey in colour, with elbowed antennae and brown elytra. Females lay eggs singly in holes made on the stem, branches, petioles or midribs. Eggs are smooth, oval and pale yellow in colour. Incubation period is 3 to 8 days.

Amaranthus is one of the main genera of large and taxonomically diverse group of leafy vegetables. Amaranthus is the cheapest dark green leafy vegetable because of low production costs and high yield. It is often described as poor man’s vegetable.

Origin and Distribution: The main vegetable type Amaranthus tricolor L. originated in South or South East Asia, particularly in India. Budhist monks and Muslim invaders took the crop to neighboring countries. Another vegetable type A. dubius shows diversity in Central America, Indonesia, India and in Africa. A lividus is a popular leafy vegetable in Southern and Central Europe. Amaranthus included 50 to 60 species.

A family of about 73 genera and over 1,600 species (Hickey and King, 1988),Amaryllidaceae are usually distributed in tropical and sub-tropical regions. About 9 genera and over 60 species have been reported from India. Some of the larger genera along with the number of their world over reported species are Crinum (110), Hippeastrum (75), Narcissus (60), Hymenocallis (50), Haemanthus (50), Cyrtanthus (47), Zephyranthes (40), Galanthus (20), Polianthes (15), and Pancratium (15).
Hippeastrum (popular name Amaryllis) is one of the most beautiful bulbous ornamental plants grown in the world. It is very suitable for planting in pots, greenhouses, window gardens, flowering beds, rockeries, popular as cut flower, and useful in floral arrangements. Hippeastrum and Amaryllis are synonyms for ‘Trumpet lily’ or ‘Night Star lily’ in Indian gardens. In USA, A. belladonna is known as Callicore rosea sometimes as Hippeastrum equestre, and in South Africa as ‘March lily’, being a variable species. Plants of the genus A. belladonna are known as ‘Belladonna lily’, ‘Naked Lady’ or ‘Amarillo’. Hippeastrum hybridum is popularly known as ‘Royal Dutch’ amaryllis or ‘Dutch’ amaryllis hybrids. Hippeastrum takes its name from the Hippeus meaning ‘a knight rider’ or horse and ‘astron’ meaning a star, due to some fancied resemblance in H. equestre, perhaps of the equitant leaves and the star shaped corolla opening.

Hippeastrums, commonly known as Royal Dutch amaryllis/ Trumplet lily/ Belladonna lily, are bulbous ornamentals grown around the world for cut flowers, potted plants, window gardens and floral arrangements. The numerous hybrid phenotypes (miniature, orchid flowering, imbricated/ reginae, long trumpet/ belladonna type, etc.) are available in the world market. The history of its development and new trends of breeding are described as an aid for continued crop development. Tissue banks of cultivars are genetic evolutionary race history have been charted out for future improvement. Most cultivars are diploids and tetraploids cross incompatibility, sterility, reproductive barriers, self incompatibility often pose significant challenges to breeders. Little genetic information and trait heritability has been established for this crop, plant breeding continues to produce new variants for commercial production. The use of intra and interspecific hybridization, breeding for specific traits, polyploidy and mutation breeding are presented with a focus on creating novel transformations for this crop in the future.

Many horticulture schemes have been launched by the Government. The main aim is to expand the area under horticulture with better productivity. These ambitious schemes are as follows.

A. Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH): Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) is a centrally sponsored scheme from 1st April 2014 for the holistic growth of the horticulture sector covering fruits, vegetables, root and tuber crops, mushrooms, spices, flowers, aromatic plants, coconut, cashew, cocoa and bamboo. Under MIDH, Government of India (GOI) contributes 60% of total outlay for developmental programmes in all the states except states in North East and Himalayas, 40% share is contributed by state governments.

Spotted boll  worms/ Shoot and fruit borer: Earias vitella (=E.fabia), E. insulana: Noctuidae

This is a pest on cotton, bhendi, hibiscus, holly hock and other malvaceous vegetables. Moths lay eggs singly in leaf axils, bracts and leaf veins and on under surface. Larvae bore into tender shoots, buds, flowers and fruits and feed on internal contents.  Damage results in drooping of shoots and shedding of buds and flowers. The infested fruits have bore holes, are deformed and become unfit for consumption.  Bore holes are plugged with excreta.

Abstract

Infertility in Livestock is a matter of great concern Anoestrous and repeat breeding in buffalo and bovines are two of the most serious reproductive problems affecting 30-40% of the total cattles and buffalo population on a conservative estimate our country is loosing 20-30 million tonnes of milk due to anestrus and repeat breading in cattle and buffaloes translating to a loss of Rs 40-50,000 crores annually. The used weak symptoms of estrus in the normal breeding season (September to February) become ever weaker during the hot month of summer. The incidences of silent heat is the lowest in December while the break is seen in the hot summer month of April. Summer infertility is also noticedin goat. During summer farmer experience a variety of reproductive problems such as an estrus extended weaning to eastern interiors, poor conception rates, higher unbryo mortality rates and low barrowing rates. There are strategies to ameliorate heat stress induced fertility problems and gonadotropin treatment can prevent seasonal infertility. There is a need to implement several techniques at the field level combining the glance of any detrimental impact on health and environment

Plants can synthesize all the 20 amino acids, which include essential and non-essential amino acids. They can be degraded by removal of the amino group and conversion of the remaining skeleton to useful metabolic intermediates which participate in the synthesis of glucose and other ketone bodies.
 
Biosynthesis of amino acids
 
The biosyntheses of amino acids have an important feature. Their carbon skeletons come from intermediates from glycolysis, pentose phosphate pathway and citric acid cycle etc. The biosynthetic pathways depend on the intermediates from which they are derived. The primary amino group normally comes from the transamination of glutamate. Glutamine synthetase is a central control point in nitrogen metabolism, since glutamine is the amino group donor in the formation of many biosynthetic products as well as being a storage form of ammonia. Glutamate is the precursor of proline, ornithine, and arginine. Serine, cysteine, and glycine are derived from 3-phosphoglycerate. Glycine is synthesized from serine by removing CH2OH group. Tyrosine is synthesized from phenylalanine. Asparagine and glutamine are amides that are synthesized from aspartate and glutamate.

Amino acids are biologically important organic compounds composed of amine (-NH₂) and carboxylic acid (-COOH) functional groups, along with a side-chain specific to each amino acid. The key elements of an amino acid are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, though other elements are found in the side-chains of certain amino acids. About 500 amino acids are known and can be classified in many ways. They can be classified according to the core structural functional groups’ locations as alpha- (?-), beta- (β), gamma- (?), or delta- (δ-) amino acids; other categories relate to polarity, pH level, and side-chain group type (aliphatic, acrylic, aromatic, containing hydroxyl or sulphur, etc.). In the form of proteins, amino acids comprise the second-largest component (water is the largest) of human muscles, cells and other tissues. Outside proteins, amino acids perform critical roles in processes such as neurotransmitter transport and biosynthesis. Amino acids having both the amine and the carboxylic acid groups attached to the first (alpha-) carbon atom have particular importance in biochemistry. They are known as 2-, alpha-, or ?-amino acids (generic formula H₂NCHRCOOH in most cases where R is an organic substituent known as a “side-chain”); often the term “amino acid” is used to refer specifically to these. They include the 22 proteinogenic (“protein-building”) amino acids, which combine into peptide chains (“polypeptides”) to form the building-blocks of a vast array of proteins. These are all L-stereoisomers (“left-handed” isomers), although a few D-amino acids (“right-handed”) occur in bacterial envelopes and some antibiotics. Twenty of the proteinogenic amino acids are encoded directly by triplet codons in the genetic code and are known as “standard” amino acids. The other two (“non-standard” or “non-canonical”) are pyrrolysine (found in methanogenic organisms and other eukaryotes) and selenocysteine (present in many noneukaryotes as well as most eukaryotes). For example, 25 human proteins include selenocysteine (Sec) in their primary structure, and the structurally characterized enzymes (selenoenzymes) employ Sec as the catalytic moiety in their active sites. Pyrrolysine and selenocysteine are encoded via variant codons; for example, selenocysteine is encoded by stop codon and SECIS element. Codon–tRNA combinations not found in nature can also be used to “expand” the genetic code and create novel proteins known as alloproteins incorporating non-proteinogenic amino acids.

Amino acids are essential components of all living cells as building blocks of proteins. They are also metabolically active and supply substrates for many other biochemical reactions. In a bacterial cell, about 0.4% of the dry weight is amino acids. The amino units in other living systems varies according to species, age and part of the body.

The word protein was first coined in 1838 to emphasize the importance of this class of molecules. The word is derived from the Greek word proteios which means “of the first - rank”. Proteins are polymers/macro molecules made up of several amino acids. When there are more than 50 amino acids in a chain, the polypeptide is normally called a protein. Each protein in the cells of living beings has a unique sequence of amino acids that determines its biological function. The proteins are folded into specific defined structures, which are maintained by large number of relatively weak bonds. The three dimensional structure is well defined and suited to it’s specific function.

Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. They occur in all living plant cells as constituents of proteins and as free acids or amides. More than 200 naturally occurring amino acids have been identified in higher plants. Around 20 different amino acids have been observed to be incorporated into proteins. They have two functional groups, an amino group (-NH2) and a carboxylic group(-COOH). Both these groups are attached to the a carbon atom only. Amino acids with this structure are called a amino acids or 2-aminoacids. The unique characteristics of the 20 amino acids are due to the side chain (R), which can be an alkyl, hydroxyl, thiol, amino, sulphide, aromatic, or heterocyclic group.

Amino acids have the general formula, R-CH(NH₂)-COOH. The R represents a side chain. If R=H, the simplest amino acid glycine (NH₂ -CH₂ –COOH) results. Amino acids are alpha (a ) amino carboxylic acids. The carbon atom is tetrahedral in shape. The various groups attached to it are placed in different positions. Since the valence of the carbon atom is four, four groups can be attached to the carbon atom. Based on the groups attached to the carbon atom it may be of two types.