The genus is native to Mexico and Central America. In pre-Hispanic times, amaranth was cultivated by the Aztec and their tributary communities in a quantity very similar to maize. Known to the Aztecs as huāuhtli, amaranth is thought to have represented up to 80% of their energy consumption before the Spanish conquest.
The genus Amaranthus contains upwards of 70 species of plants and can be found on every continent, though most species are considered weeds. Amaranth seeds have been found at mid Holocene era archaeological sites in northern Argentina, dating back 8,000 to 7,000 years ago.
Amaranth has quite a dramatic history. It was cultivated by the mighty Aztecs about 6,000-8,000 years ago. Amaranth was not just a food staple for the Aztecs. It played a big part in their worship.
When was amaranth first domesticated?
The earliest dating of amaranth as a domesticated grain crop comes from archaeological digs at a cave in Tehaucan, Puebla, Mexico, where seeds of Amaranthus cruentus were dated as 6,000 years old, although Sauer (1993) notes that initial domestication could have occurred much earlier and in different locations.
Is amaranth native to Mexico?
Amaranth grain has a long and colorful history in Mexico and is considered a native crop in Peru. It was a major food crop of the Aztecs, and some have estimated amaranth was domesticated between 6,000 and 8,000 years ago. Annual grain tributes of amaranth to the Aztec emperor were roughly equal to corn tributes.
The next thing we wanted the answer to was where does amaranth grow in South America?
The origin of the third species of grain amaranth, A. Caudatus, is more uncertain to Sauer. Amaranthus caudatus has been used in South America’s Andean highlands (Peru, Bolivia, Argentina) for centuries but the timing and location of domestication are unknown.
Is amaranth a vegetable?
Some amaranth species are cultivated as leaf vegetables, pseudocereals, and ornamental plants. Most of the Amaranthus species are summer annual weeds and are commonly referred to as pigweeds.
Amaranth is considered a ” pseudocereal ” rather than an actual grain since it’s technically a seed. Other examples of pseudocereals are buckwheat and quinoa; both amaranth and quinoa are from the family Amaranthaceae.
Amaranthus hypochondriacus has characteristics of both A. Cruentus and the wild species A. Powelli, and may be a hybrid of the two. The origin of the third species of grain amaranth, A. Caudatus, is more uncertain to Sauer.