Abstract
Various genotypes of quinoa were evaluated for their nutritional and biochemical characteristics with special emphasis on
functional properties and digestibility of its proteins. Proteins from all genotypes showed good functional properties
including water absorption capacity (2.81±0.17 to 3.82±0.05%), oil absorption capacity (2.72±0.02 to 3.03±0.03%) and
foaming capacity (9.09±0.05 to 10.05±0.07%). Proteins exhibited excellent in-vitro digestibility (75.95±0.29 to
78.11±0.43%), protein efficiency ratio (3.50±0.04 to 3.78±0.05), net protein ratio (3.90±0.04 to 4.69±0.05%), net protein
utilization (70.75±0.86 to 73.78±0.89%), biological value (79.15±0.96 to 81.74±0.99%) and true digestibility (87.66±1.06 to
90.57±1.10%). Furthermore, fat contents showed diverse fatty acid composition including palmitic acid (11.39±0.02 to
13.25±0.30%), oleic acid (26.28±0.15 to 31.62±0.14%), Linoleic acid (47.79±0.19 to 52.02±0.54%) and α-Linoleic acid
(4.45±0.03 to 7.71±0.06%). Conclusively, quinoa genotypes grown in Pakistan were proved to have strong nutritional profile
and high protein quality.
